Drifting Sand
by Katamari Damacy
Summary: Gaara leaves on a journey with no destination, only an objective. He strives to find a reason to exist in a world where fighting only for yourself doesn't bring true strength. Takes place during the time skip.
1. First Steps

This is going to be a fairly long story, taking place during the time jump in the manga (right after Sasuke leaves, and Naruto goes to train). The manga doesn't give any details on what happened to the characters during this time, particularly in regards to the young man who became the Kazekage.

This story follows Gaara as he sets out on a journey of self discovery (good grief that sounds so cliché), and allows us to watch as he begins to find in himself the desire to protect others (as we see after the time jump).

I am going to try and keep everything in this story within cannon, so that by the end, I hope that we can all look at this and pretend that this is what really happened during those missing years.

Please note that I had no proofreader, so this chapter is probably okay at best. It will get much better as the story goes on, so don't give up on me here!

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_Drifting Sand_

_Chapter One_

_Letter Left at Home – First Steps_

Temari and Kankurou,

Since the Chuunin exams in Konoha, I have realized that I have been mistaken in how I see things. Though I do not fully understand, I know where I must start in order to change myself.

When I was younger, I read many stories with Yashamaru. One of these was about a man who thought he knew everything and that his strength made him right. However, he had a realization that he had been wrong for all that time. He went on a journey to find himself, and after many years returned to his home as a much better man.

I have thought about this for several weeks, and have realized that I, myself, am incomplete. I have loved only myself for so long that I do not remember any other way. Knowing this, I have resolved to take my own journey across this world. I do not know what I will find, but I know that I must do this to find the me that does not love only himself.

I have not been a good brother. I understand if you do not wish to remain as my siblings. However, I ask that you give me one more chance when I return. A chance to be the brother that I was not.

Do not search for me. I will return when I am the me that I wish for.

Gaara

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As the sun set over the craggy hills on the edge of the desert, Gaara continued to make his way down the road. He felt no urge to hurry along, knowing full well that he had all the time in the world. The red haired boy simply observed his surroundings as he walked eastward, toward the border of the Country of Wind.

The moon was near the horizon in front of him, a white sphere hanging in the sky. As the orange and red of the sun faded behind him, everything began to take on a pale glow. The small plants and flowers that he was unused to seeing seemed to have an ethereal radiance to them. These were things that he had seen many times before as a ninja, but for some reason that he couldn't quite define, it all seemed fresh and new.

Even the smells of the grasses and the fragrance of the flowers on the gentle breeze were somehow affecting him, making him feel the kind of pleasure that he used to experience when remembering the person he had killed earlier that day. _No,_ he thought, _it is not. There is no underlying excitement. I feel alive, but it is not the same._ He knew that there was a difference between what he felt about killing and the strange sensation that he was now experiencing.

This dilemma continued to work itself out in his mind over the next hour. Still unable to classify the feeling, his mulling was interrupted by a scream in the distance to his right.

He had, without realizing it, come into a farmland, and the voice had come from deep within one of these fields. Normally Gaara would have barely given it a second thought, and he almost took his next step forward when a memory struck him. A memory of when he had lost control of his emotions as a child and almost killed some other kids that were afraid of him. Yashamaru had stepped in the way and took the hit to save a girl that he didn't know.

**_The same Yashamaru who later tried to kill me,_ **came an angry thought, **_He never loved me! Why would it matter that he saved that girl?_** A part of Gaara agreed. It didn't matter if the person who screamed needed help. It was doubtful that whoever it was that screamed would help Gaara if he had ever needed it. No one ever had.

"_To protect the people of this village…So that one day, they will acknowledge me…"_

_Uzumaki_ _Naruto. What would you do?_

Unsure why he was doing it and what he would do when he got there, the form of Gaara blurred for a moment, then seemed to disappear. He reappeared again when he discovered the source of the sound, some distance away.

A girl, perhaps seven or eight years of age, sat huddled next to a few rocks and a dead tree. Several wolves circled her, growling and nipping at her. She was shaking and whimpering, just loud enough for him to hear. His sense of urgency gave way to curiosity. Could she really be so weak that she cannot drive away these creatures?

He moved closer to get a better look, a move that the skinny creatures took note of. Their instinct told them that this human was not one to be trifled with, and they backed away quietly as he approached. Watching him with feral eyes, they growled angrily as they faded into the darkness and silently padded away.

Wondering at the sudden absence of growls, the girl looked up. She had dark, stringy hair, with smudges of dirt on her face. The path of her tears down her cheeks were obvious, even in the moonlight. Her too small clothes were ragged and torn, though Gaara suspected that many of the holes and stains were from excessive wear. The look that spread across her face was one that the young boy had never seen directed at him, and one that he was only vaguely familiar with.

Leaping forward, arms outstretched, she cried out with relief in her eyes. She was almost within arms reach of the surprised Gaara when there was a dark flash from above and a thud, accompanied by a feminine 'oof'. Blinking at the sight before him, he realized that the sand in the gourd on his back had interpreted her movements as offensive, neutralizing the attack with enough force that she was knocked face first into the dirt at his feet.

Blinking again, he bent forward slightly, "Are you injured?"

No reply came from the unmoving girl.

_Hmmm, _he thought to himself, _this has never happened before._ The young shinobi didn't know what the girl had been intending to do exactly, but he was fairly certain she wasn't trying to hurt him. If he had realized that sooner, perhaps the sand would not have reacted the way it did.

Staring at the girl for a few more moments, he knelt down beside her and began cautiously poking at her with his finger. "I know you are alive," he stated simply, "Stand up."

The girl stirred a bit and swatted his finger away. He watched for a moment as she rolled over and began to rub her face, moaning from the pain. She sat up facing away from him and began to look around, obviously in a daze. Trying to get up, she wobbled a little and quickly settled herself back down on the ground.

Still not noticing Gaara's presence, and him not doing anything to let her know he had been less than a foot behind her the whole time, she shook her head and tried again. When she began to wobble again, the boy reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her.

Her sudden scream, with fists balled up and eyes squeezed shut, triggered a kill reflex in Gaara that required some effort to stop. When he had regained control, there were four spikes of sand within inches of the screaming girl, who was now on the ground again. Quickly recovering, the sand had just vanished back into the gourd when she opened her eyes and saw her 'assailant'.

An apprehensive Gaara watched as the frightened girl eyed him, and he wondered what she was going to do next that might get her accidentally killed. After a moment, she simply started sniffling, which flowed into crying, which left the red haired boy at a complete loss.

Searching his brain, he tried to think of something that normal people did at a time like this. Finally hitting on something, he slowly reached his right hand out and lightly tapped her on her shoulder. "There. There," he spoke with all the emotion of a cactus.

Looking up at him through her tears, she fell forward into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. Gaara, for his part, froze. His eyes wide, his arms spread outward, and tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead despite the cool evening air, her tears soaked the sash that he wore across his chest.

They stayed like that for several minutes while she let her fears out and he wondered how he had wound up like this.

Half an hour later, Gaara found himself walking between fields with the girl, whose name, he discovered, was Chika. She had used some strange form of logic that he hadn't quite followed to state that it was his duty to protect her as she walked back to her home. He didn't understand, but it seemed to be an opportunity (for what, he didn't know), so he went along with it.

She asked some questions about himself to which he gave, at best, evasive answers. He had no interest in speaking about his past. This voyage was about his future, and besides that, she would likely run and hide if she knew the truth. Just like everyone else who knew.

"Um, Gaara?" she asked. He gave no response, but she was starting to take that to mean he was listening, "When you saved me from those wolves, I started to run towards you, and then everything went black for a while. What happened?"

The shinobi felt as if he were moving a little more stiffly than normal. "Ah, that," he spoke with little enthusiasm, "You fell."

Chika looked at him expectantly, which made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Just a few months ago he would have just killed her and been done with it. Her eyes narrowed as she made a suspicious sound, "I fell? Is that it?"

He glanced sideways at her, "You fell."

"You didn't do anything ungentlemanly did you?"

_Ungentlemanly?_ Gaara thought to himself, _What_ _is she talking about?_ "I don't understand what you mean," he said, genuinely at a loss.

Her shoulders slumped, "I don't understand either. I heard my big sister say it to a guy once and he got all embarrassed. I asked her, but she wouldn't tell me what it means exactly and kept saying I was too young to understand. I think it's something perverted though."

Gaara glanced at her again. She appeared deep in thought. _Perverted? I don't like where this is going._ Under his stoic expression, his mind frantically searched for a way to change the subject. He immediately said the first thing that came to his mind, "What do you feel when you smell flowers?"

Chika looked at him blankly for a minute, apparently unsure what she had just heard him ask. "What do I feel when I smell flowers?" she repeated, receiving a nod of confirmation from him, "Do you mean something like flowers in a field, or in a garden?"

_There's a difference? _"Field," he responded, thinking about the one that he had walked past earlier that night, the one that had triggered the mystery feeling that he couldn't identify.

She gave him a smile and giggle that made him feel like he needed to loosen his collar. Believing that there might be something wrong with his health, he decided that health could wait until he had his answer.

"Well," she began, "They just make me feel good. Happy."

He furrowed his brow, not really following her. "But how is it different from the pleasure you feel when, er, doing something that you enjoy?" He had almost said pleasure when you kill someone.

She seemed to be thinking hard again before she spoke, "Well, when you are doing something, you are happy because you are doing something. But when you smell the flowers in the field, you are happy because you are surrounded by beautiful things, and life."

He looked at her, seeing the happiness that lit her dirt smudged face as she spoke. It was something that he was unused to, seeing happiness so closely. Looking at the blank expression on his face, she blushed a little, "Heh, I guess that didn't make much sense, did it?"

"No," he responded, "it didn't." She seemed a little crestfallen at that, but he paid no heed. "I believe that I may understand one day. Perhaps the day that I discover the truth of what you have told me will be the day that my journey ends and I return home."

His words struck a romantic chord within Chika's heart, and she looked at him with eyes that seemed to sparkle. Anyone else (except possibly Naruto) would have realized from that look that she had developed a crush on her red headed protector. Gaara, having exactly zero experience in that sort of thing, wondered if she was about to be sick.

After a few more minutes of discomfort, Gaara breathed a small sigh of relief as she pointed out her village just ahead of them. He could see some people gathered near the edge of the village as they drew closer, and he wondered if perhaps they were coming to look for Chika.

"Oh, no," she moaned when she saw them, "My father has half the village out to come look for me. I'm going to be in so much trouble."

Sure enough, as they drew closer one of the men called out, "Chika! Where have you been? Do you have any idea how late it is?"

Gaara came to a stop well short of the group as Chika continued forward to meet her father. "Sorry, Papa," she said in a meek voice, "I got chased by some wolves, but this nice boy rescued me!" She pointed to him, though Gaara still remained at the edge of their lights.

"Wolves, huh?" the man said disbelievingly, "I'll bet. So who is this _nice boy_ who rescued you?"

She smiled excitedly, "You're really going to like him, Papa. Come over here so you can meet everyone, Gaara!"

The eyes of half the men in the crowd grew wide as saucers when she said his name. Stepping forward, the situation suddenly felt very familiar to him.

"Gaara," Chika's father said, his mouth scrunched up as if the word tasted foul, "The gourd on your back, the rings around your eyes. You're Gaara of the Desert!" Gaara said nothing as the man pulled his daughter behind him. "We don't want a monster like you here. Please leave us in peace."

"Papa, what are you doing?" Chika asked, looking very worried, "Why are you talking like that?"

"Chika," he said over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the red haired shinobi before him, "This boy is a monster, one who has murdered many people. He is dangerous and you should stay away from him!"

Tears were forming in the eight year old girl's eyes, "No, you're wrong, Papa! Gaara, tell him he's wrong! You aren't a murderer!"

Gaara closed his eyes to calm himself. It was happening again, just like it always did. People would find out that he was a monster, and they wouldn't care if he wanted to be friends. They would simply hate him.

"I am not a monster," he spoke, "but I have killed many people."

"Even if aren't a real monster, you are still a murderer!" her father snarled, "We won't let you harm anyone in our village! We'll do whatever it takes to stop you!"

Gaara chuckled at this, and he felt pleased at the anxious looks that appeared on all their faces when he did so, "You should stop challenging me. I have killed many powerful shinobi without a scratch to myself, you fools would provide no challenge at all." He laughed again at the intense look of fear on many of their faces.

**_Yes, _**the dark voice spoke to him, **_They are begging to fight. You can kill them. I want to see their blood! Kill them, Gaara!_** He could sense the sand beginning to stir in his gourd, eager to go forth and soak in the blood of these fools. His excitement built as he looked at the fearful eyes of one man, and then the next. **_Kill them all, and let their crops drink their blood!_**

His thoughts abruptly stopped when his eyes settled on Chika.

She was shaking, her eyes full of tears. The girl's voice cracked as she croaked out, "You lied to me."

His insides went cold as all the excitement vanished like a puff of smoke. **_Kill her, _**the voice said, **_once she is gone, you can kill all you want! She is what is keeping you from feeling alive!_**

"No!" he yelled. Gaara realized that he was doubled over, his hands on his head. He could feel the cold sweat on his skin. He glanced around to see the villagers, still fearfully watching him. She was watching too, but with an expression that he couldn't identify. He could see that she was in pain, however. And he knew that he was the reason.

Taking a deep breath, the Sand ninja stood upright and spoke. "I will leave."

He took little interest in the surprised looks on the faces of the villagers. The only one that seemed to be of consequence was Chika, and for some reason, he didn't want to look at her.

Slowly walking forward, his eyes on the ground before him, the men of the village parted to either side. As he passed the spot that he knew she was standing, he offered a quiet, "I'm sorry." He surprised himself a bit at the slight tightness in his throat, but he didn't dwell on it for very long.

History had repeated itself. As soon as it was known that he was a monster, everyone turned on him. The feeling of loneliness was filling his heart like ice water as he looked at the dimly lit path before him. _This is going to be a long journey._

Lost in his own thoughts, he was brought back to reality by the surprising sound of his name, "Gaara, wait!"

He stopped, turning slowly to the sounds of the villagers yelling, "Chika, no! He's a monster, don't go near him!" and other such things. He barely heard them, though. Since they were all too afraid to move any closer to him, he was more concerned with the mess of dark, slightly tangled hair and ragged clothes running toward him. Turning around to meet her, and having no idea what to expect, Gaara waited for the girl.

She stopped in front of him, panting and wiping the tears from her eyes. After a moment, she finally called out, "Take me with you!"

Her father yelled from behind her, "What!"

"What?" Gaara said almost simultaneously, taken completely off guard, "Take you…? You mean," he hesitated a moment before continuing to voice his surprise, "You mean you aren't afraid of me?"

"I don't know what you used to be," she said, still wiping her face dry, "but you aren't a bad person, I can tell!" The shinobi simply stood there with his mouth open slightly, unable to respond. She continued a little more softly, "I saw the look on your face just now. You're really lonely, right?"

He hesitated for a moment, then spoke the truth, "Yes."

"My Papa and Mama have my sister and my brother," she said, "but you're by yourself, aren't you? If I go with you, you won't have to be lonely."

Gaara looked at her, then sighed before responding, "My father hated me, casting me aside as a failure. I had no one that would have been sad if my existence had vanished from this world. You have a family that cares about what happens to you. You can have the happy life that I did not have. I will not take you away from that."

She looked down, knowing that he was right. Putting on a brave smile, she looked back up at him, "Will I see you again?"

"When my journey is over, I will return to the Hidden Village of Sand. Perhaps then-" he said before she interrupted.

"Then I'll find you there one day." Her words were definite, and they gave Gaara a feeling that he didn't know very well, a feeling that came from the knowledge that this girl cared about him, that she had offered to give up so much for someone she hardly knew. He didn't know why she did, or how much, but he knew that she cared, and it made him smile.

"I'll be expecting you," he said to her as he turned, "Until then."

Gaara continued to smile as he left the village near the edge of the Country of Sand, whose name he never learned. That same smile followed him well into the night as the moon arched ever higher in the sky.

_Maybe this journey won't be so bad after all._

_

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_

**A/N**

Got a little cheesy in there, didn't it? Heh, well, I guess I like a little cheese now and then. I wish I could have done better, but I'm impatient and got tired of revising.

This story is going to be a mix of just about everything: action, comedy, tragedy, and even a little bit of romance thrown in (though whether the romance involves Gaara or not, we'll just have to wait and see!). I'm even planning on having some cameos from some of the other Naruto cast members (Sakura, Rock Lee, Shikamaru and the like), though Naruto himself will not appear except during flashbacks.

Like I said, I am going to try everything I can to ensure this story fits within cannon, and I'll try to keep everyone as in character as I can. This poses a problem for me with Gaara, since he has so many demons haunting him. Plus, this story is going to be in a time of change for Gaara, following him as he changes from recently reformed sociopath to the young man who is made Kazekage of the Hidden Sand. I'm going to be taking a lot of liberties with how I think he got from point A to point B, and I hope all of you can follow my logic.

Anyway, please review. I will try and respond to you in the next chapter!

Ja ne!

_Katamari Damacy_


	2. Raindrops

_Drifting Sand_

_Chapter Two_

_Raindrops – Story of an Old Woman_

Gaara had come to realize something. It struck him several days after leaving Chika's village, not long after he had crossed the border and left the Country of Wind. It wasn't really a new thought, but like so many other things, it felt like something he was finding out for the first time.

He disliked the rain.

In his life, the young Sand shinobi had experienced rain very few times, and most of those were when he was away on a mission. He had never really considered his feelings about water falling from the sky before, just its tactical impact on his objective.

It didn't help much that he had decided not to use his sand for anything unless absolutely necessary, so he couldn't shield himself from the showers. Knowing that he was going into foreign countries without cause or permission, he did not have any particular desire to deal with the trouble it would bring if other ninjas became aware of his presence in their territory. There were two ways to manage this: one was to remain hidden at all times, or two, he could pretend to be a regular traveler and try to blend in. Since part of his reasoning for this trip was to observe social interactions between average people, hiding in the wilderness was more or less pointless.

And so Gaara found himself trudging through the soft Earth that made up the road he was on. His clothes had been thoroughly soaked during the previous hour of walking, making parts of them stick to his skin and others flap around distractingly. His red hair was slicked down onto his head, dripping onto his nose and sometimes into his eyes, something that irritated him to no end. All of this mixed with a thick, humid heat that permeated everything, and his displeasure rose still further.

He hated this place.

He was sorely tempted to use his sand. All he had to do was wrap it around himself and it would dry him out in a few minutes. At the very least he could use it to make an umbrella for himself, like most of the other travelers on the same road had.

He stopped himself, however, knowing that doing so in front of others would defeat the purpose of the steps he had taken to avoid detection. He had removed the forehead protector from the harness for his sand gourd, and had used some of the sand itself to blend in with the skin on his forehead to hide the symbol for love that he had branded himself with when he was younger. The gourd itself, the thing that he felt would most easily identify him, he decided to change into a more normal shape. Using his chakra, Gaara transformed the gourd into a large backpack, something that would still be able to hold most of the sand without appearing too large. The rest of it he redistributed to various parts of his body, forming them into things like armor plates on his forearms and shins.

It all felt quite awkward to the young ninja, but he was determined to blend in as well as he could. He knew from personal experience that shinobi and assassins could be hiding anywhere, watching.

So onward he trudged, mild annoyance showing in an ever so slight scowl. Wiping rain and sweat from his brow for what seemed like the thousandth time, he stared at a passerby who was shielding himself from the showers with a red umbrella. Gaara found himself wishing he had one of them himself, while the man found himself wondering if he was about to be attacked and robbed by the boy that stared at him with those black rimmed eyes.

"Excuse me, young man." Gaara stopped, turning away from the nervous looking man whose umbrella he desired. As he looked, he saw the source of the weak and wavering voice.

An old woman, _very_ advanced in years, unsteadily leaned on a cane while barely keeping her umbrella above her head. She was dressed in a blue kimono, which he imagined must have been quite hot in this weather, and red, wooden sandals. Her silver hair was pulled up into a tidy bun with two large, lacquered wood pins holding it in place. With a small bag hanging from her umbrella arm, Gaara wondered how the woman was still alive, let alone how she remained standing.

While he didn't respond to her, she took the fact that he had stopped and was looking at her to mean he was listening, "Young man, would you be so kind as to help an old woman walk the rest of the way to town? I don't think I can make it by myself."

Deciding that this was the sort of thing a good person would do, he moved over to her, still not speaking. She didn't seem to mind his silence. "Thank you," she said with some relief as she took hold of his arm, handing him the umbrella as she leaned on him. He noted that she seemed to weigh next to nothing, to the point that he could likely throw her to the next town with a decent tail wind. "It's so good that there are still nice young men like you in this world, people who aren't too busy to help a poor old woman."

She began to walk as he supported her and held the umbrella against the rain. _At least I can dry off like this._ The woman remained silent as they crept along the road at speeds reaching one foot every five weeks. At least, that's how it seemed to Gaara, used to racing across the landscape faster than a horse. And that was when he didn't use his sand to fly.

He looked at the wrinkled old woman, seeing what appeared to be a pleased smile on her face as they moved. After a while, the red haired boy spoke his first words to her, voicing a question that had entered his mind almost from the start, "Why were you trying to walk such a distance by yourself?"

A small laugh escaped her before sighing, "It was silly of me, wasn't it?" Gaara was about to say yes, but decided that she did not actually want him to answer. "I just wanted to surprise my son. He lives in the town up ahead. Just last year I could make this trip with no problems, but I suppose that time is finally catching up with this old kunoichi."

Gaara blinked at the woman, "You were a ninja?"

She laughed again, "Yes, many years ago. Almost in another age. I was a Chuunin during the wars." He silently wondered at this. _She really _is _old._ "My husband and I were ninjas from the Hidden Village of Rain," she said wistfully, suddenly getting a surge of energy in her voice, she asked, "Would you like to hear a story, to pass the time until we arrive?"

He couldn't see why not. It was an interesting chance to learn something about Rain shinobi, since his only previous experience with them consisted of him slaughtering some of their men. Besides that, it would be nice for him to have something to take his mind off the dampness of his clothing, so he nodded his assent.

"It was not long after the wars ended," she began, "I wasn't old, but I wasn't very young any more either. My husband and I had conceived our first child shortly after the armistice, and that boy was nearing his first birthday. Raising him had taken me away from being a kunoichi, but my husband still went on missions, and by this time was a very powerful Jounin."

"On a day like this one, with the skies filled with clouds and the land soaked with rain, my husband came home just as he always did. I went outside to meet him, as I always did. But this time, things were different," her ominous words seemed to clash with the almost unattached way she spoke them, "When he arrived home, a single man appeared. We both knew that he was a shinobi from Mist, a most infamous assassin who abandoned his village because he wasn't allowed to kill as much in the new days of peace."

Gaara felt that on some level, he was like this man. At least, he used to be like him. Having a thirst for blood is something that the young man knew all too well. He imagined that if things had not changed for him that day in Konoha, he would be like this man, even now.

"My husband and I," she continued, bringing him back to reality, "were both Jounins, and quite powerful ones, if I do say so myself." She smiled slightly as she said that. "Well, at the time I had only been a Jounin for two years, but I was still pretty impressive. This assassin, however, had powers that made ours pale in comparison. He was on a level that would allow him to stand toe to toe with a Kage in combat and have an excellent chance of coming back alive."

Gaara found himself more and more interested in this story. This man seemed more and more like his old self. Also, if this man was so powerful, how did they survive?

His thoughts were interrupted by a group of men standing in the rain, blocking the road ahead. The shinobi watched them closely as he and the woman crept forward. For her part, she kept silent, the pause in her story indicating that she was well aware of their presence.

The pair stopped well short of the group of armed men, but close enough to speak over the sound of the rain without difficulty. They were not shinobi, Gaara felt, seeming more like renegade samurai. Their tattered clothes and battered piecemeal armor led him to believe that they were bandits with actual combat experience. They were nothing compared to Gaara, but he had learned not to underestimate enemies that at first seem weak.

When neither Gaara nor the old woman spoke, one of the bandits called out, "This doesn't concern you, boy. Leave the woman and get out of here." Other travelers on the road began to speed their pace away from the scene, hoping desperately to avoid the thug like group and whatever they may have been getting ready to do.

Having no intention to obey, he instead asked, "What value can an old woman like this one have to you. Leave her be."

The group, who were somewhat more professional than he had originally given them credit for, began to unsheathe their katanas and grip their spears tighter. They did an excellent job of concealing their smiles, and if it had been someone different, they would have been an intimidating sight.

"This is not a negotiation, boy," he responded, condescension obvious in his words, "We are going to take the hag with us, and you can either get out of the way or die."

Wondering to himself how he would be able to defeat them without his sand attacks, he knew this would be a difficult fight if he hid the fact that he was a ninja. As he ran through several possibilities, he felt the umbrella being lifted from his hand. The old woman smiled at him and said, "I'm sorry, young man, I need to use this for a moment. You'll only get rained on for a minute." He let go as he watched her take a few steps forward.

"I'm sorry gentlemen," she apologized to the men, "but I'm going to see my son today, and it's very important. I'm afraid I can't let a group of brigands like you stand in my way."

They chuckled at her veiled threat, though Gaara saw the tension, the wariness in their eyes. _They know she's a kunoichi, or at least, that she used to be._ It confirmed something that he was fairly certain of to begin with. These men had targeted her for a reason, though why they would want to kidnap a hundred year old woman, even if she used to be a ninja, he couldn't fathom.

The same bandit spoke again, "Well, I'm sorry too, grandma. We're just going to have to delay your family time for a little while, until we get what we want."

"I see," she said, "Then I suppose I have no choice." The woman tossed the umbrella into the air, far higher than she should have been capable of. As it flew, she began to make motions with her hands, in front of her. Gaara could feel her chakra flow but was amazed by what she was doing with it, something he had never seen before.

_She's making one handed seals, with both hands!_ He watched as her gnarled fingers moved from one form to another, performing two jutsus at once, and blinked at the surprisingly large swell of chakra she was bringing to bear. Something went wrong, however. Her chakra level dropped sharply as she staggered in place. Letting out a groan of pain, Gaara knew that she had pushed her body too far by using that much power.

Nevertheless, the woman finished her seals and sent what power she still had into the two jutsus. One he had seen before, during the second part of the Chuunin exam. A hundred needles spread out from the edges of her umbrella, arcing down at the group of wide eyed men.

At the same time, her other jutsu activated, and Gaara watched as the rain drops themselves slowed in midair, stopped, then lanced directly toward the crowd from all directions. The water shuriken and the needles from above lanced into the men in a hundred places. Four of the bandits crumpled to the ground, needles protruding from their heads, or stuck in their eyes. The other six were in pain, with cuts all over their bodies and metal darts stuck in their arms, legs and backs. There was no doubt in his mind that if she had been able to use her full chakra, none of these men would be alive.

The leader, who appeared to be the least injured and the least perturbed by what had just happened, began to walk forward, "That was impressive, old hag, but age has obviously rusted your abilities. You can't even stand anymore."

He was right. The aged ninja was wobbling, holding her chest. She began to fall backwards, unable to hold herself up or catch herself. She didn't seem surprised at all, though, when she felt an arm around her back. Gently helping her to sit on his sand backpack, which he had shed, and grabbing the umbrella as it floated back down, he looked at the now wet old woman, "Are you alright?"

She smiled kindly at him through her pain, "I'll be fine, young man. You don't have to go to so much trouble to help an old woman like me. I've lived a long enough life."

"It's not just that," he replied, "I want to hear the rest of your story."

Handing her the umbrella, he reached for the area of the pack that looked like the top flap. Concentrating slightly, he yanked his hand away. As he turned toward his enemies, their leader let out an amused chuckle, "So you want to fight us, little man? Don't think that it will be as simple as charging into us and amazing us with your swordsman talents."

Gaara griped the katana that he had formed out of the sand, channeling his chakra into it to harden and sharpen the edge even further. "I'm aware of your little trap," he sounded bored, "Your backup men hiding in ambush are pitifully obvious." Most of the bandits lost their smile at that. "And no, I do not intend to amaze you with my swordsman talents. The fact of the matter is, I'm not very good at fighting like this," he explained, "Even so, it is impossible for you to kill me."

The leader began to look eager, "Is that a challenge?"

"It's a fact."

The man began to laugh at the boy who barely looked to be in his teens. "Come on out, men! We've got a live one here!" At his call, four more men appeared from the trees on either side of the wet road.

"Let me kill him!" one of them hissed, lurching forward.

"Be my guest," the brigand leader said as his other men began to smile and chuckle.

Gaara watched the large, spear wielding man as he approached. He obviously had some skill by the way he moved. The man had also killed many times. The young shinobi could smell the blood on him.

"You should look more afraid," he said, towering over Gaara, "The fear in peoples eyes is what makes killing them worthwhile."

_**He sounds so much like someone we know, doesn't he?**_

_No, I'm not like that anymore. I'm not like him._

_**Come on, the fear in your victims eyes just before you soaked their blood into the sand in your gourd? You love it!**_

_That was the old me. I came on this journey to help make sure that I never return to that path._

_**Your path was chosen when that monster was sealed within you. You may find a side track every once in a while, but it always will return to your true path. A destroyer. A monster.**_

"Never."

The man looked a little surprised at the steel in the boy's voice.

"I will never show fear before a pathetic thing like yourself," Gaara growled, gripping his sword with both hands, bringing it up to a fighting position.

"How disappointing," the spearman said, "This will be no fun at all."

"You will soon know the truth of those words," Gaara spoke, his words deadly. He noticed the look on the leader's face had hardened somewhat. _That one is no fool. I'll have difficulty with him._

"Don't look away from your death!" Gaara quickly looked back to see the spearman beginning his attack. He channeled chakra into his hands and concentrated.

It was over in a flash. The ninja of the sand had completely ignored the other man's movements, and instead concentrated on controlling the movement of the sword. Using his chakra, he moved the weapon of sand at incredible speeds, and did his best to keep his hands on it as it jerked his arms forward and up.

The sword had sliced cleanly through spear and man, cutting the shaft halfway down, then continuing through his right arm just below the shoulder. Time seemed to slow as the broken spear flew through the air alongside the muscular arm, still gripping the shaft of the weapon. The blood caught Gaara's attention more than anything, threatening to awaken something deep within him, but he quickly pushed it away, forcing himself to shift his gaze back to the leader, even as the spearman crumpled in a screaming heap.

"My arm!" he cried, "He cut of my arm!"

"You will not be able to kill so many people like that," the old woman said, still panting but obviously recovering from her exertion, "Perhaps you should find a new line of work?"

The man was incensed by the insults, and pushed himself up with his single arm, "I'll kill you, you old bitch!" Getting to his feet, he began to run at the old woman, sitting calmly on Gaara's 'sand bag'. He quickly found himself unconscious and face first in the mud after the Sand nin struck the back of his head with the hilt of his sword.

The bandits exchanged nervous glances with each other, while the boss didn't seem pleased, he still held an unpleasant smile, "Well well, the little boy here has some bite to go with his bark!"

Giving a wave to his men, they tentatively began to move forward. Gaara could see their nervous fear and chose to exploit it. He closed his eyes and searched within himself. Deep in the dark corners of his mind, he found what he was looking for.

When his eyes flashed open, they could all see the murderous intent, the hatered. They could all see a demon that would consume them all in the fires of hell.

It was more than enough to push them over the edge. Dropping their weapons onto the muddy road, they began to scream and run. Their leader, however, was not as intimidated, "Where are you going you cowards? I won't let you run away!" As he said this, he lunged at one of his men, lashing out with his katana and bringing the man to the ground, dead. Two more fell in this manner before the rest made it past him and ran into the distance. "Come back you bastards! It's only one boy!"

"A boy you are too afraid to face yourself?" Gaara prodded, just loud enough to be heard over the rain. The now lone ronin turned to look at his red haired nemesis, anger in his eyes. "Let's get this over with," he continued, "The old woman still needs to see her son today."

The man set his feet and held his katana near his hip, blade behind him and nearly touching the muddy road. Gaara, too, set his feet, and brought his sand sword up to his right side, the tip near his cheek. The two stared at each other for several minutes, watching for weakness.

The old woman patiently waited from her seat atop Gaara's sand, holding her umbrella with an amused smile on her wrinkled face. They all remained motionless and silent.

It was triggered, in the end, by a flash of lightening, less than a mile away. By the time the thunder clapped, the two katanas were crossed, the two warriors intently watching each other's eyes for a hint of what the other would do next.

Gaara had been correct in his assessment of this man, he was talented with his chosen weapon. His style wasted little movement and his speed complimented that to a point that Gaara would never have been able to keep up.

Since the young Sand nin had never needed to use anything besides his sand as a weapon before, he was barely proficient in physical combat. Fortunately, his sand sword could still be controlled mentally, and thus he was able to swing the weapon as quickly as he could will it to.

In truth, swinging the sand katana might not have been the correct way to describe it. It was more like the sword was swinging itself and dragging Gaara along for the ride. Gaara was more concerned with not jerking his body around everywhere than he was with the man he was fighting. Having never used his powers like this before, or even considering it, really, he was fighting a steep learning curve that made his fighting look strange at best.

It all seemed very erratic and confusing to the ronin, and extraordinarily frustrating. No matter what he did, the boy's sword would whip around and block his attack. He couldn't understand why such awkward looking moves could be countering his own with such ease.

After several minutes, the two paused briefly, watching each other, panting as the rain drops rolled down their faces and off the nose. The leader of the bandits smiled at his opponent, "I don't think I can win this fight. But at least I can force a draw." Gaara wondered what he meant when the man turned and dashed away from him. His black rimmed eyes widened as he realized what the rogue was doing.

During the fight, he had been careless enough to let his enemy get between himself and the old woman. Now, the man had a clear shot at her, and it was obvious that he wasn't going to hold back.

"You'll have to decide between trying to save a dying woman or chase me!" he yelled, the twisted smile growing on his face.

Propelling himself forward, Gaara knew he wouldn't make it. He looked at the old woman who, strangely enough, was still wearing a pleased smile.

"Don't feel you have to hold back on my account, young man," she said, "There's no one else here. Let him have it." Gaara let out an amused huff, grinning in spite of himself.

"Sorry grandma, but it's you or me!" the bandit leader yelled as he cocked his arm back for a thrusting attack. Rotating his whole body, he thrust the katana at her heart.

But the strike never landed. His eyes opened wide as he saw the wall of sand that had risen just enough to block the tip of his blade, less than a foot away from the still smiling and completely unperturbed old woman. He had time to let out a surprised, "What?" before another arm of sand rose up from behind her, arching over her umbrella and driving his head into the muddy road.

After a few seconds, the man shakily pushed himself up, turning to see the red haired brat who had somehow defeated him. The boy had his arms crossed over his chest, and was staring with those dark rimmed eyes. Before he could ask how it had all been possible, the sand grabbed him by the leg, held him upside down for a moment, and slung him deep into the woods.

As the bandit's cry faded away in the distance, the elderly woman began to clap as well as she could with an umbrella in her hand, "Very impressive, young man! I was hoping to see you use more of your power, but I suppose against someone that weak…" She began to laugh as she imagined him flying off into the trees again.

Gaara shifted the sand around to form a canopy over them, and a dry place for him kneel down so he was at her height. "You knew the whole time," he stated.

She laughed again, "Well of course I knew! I may be old but I'm not senile." She patted the bag of sand that she was still seated on, "This stuff has quite a bit of chakra in it, I would have been blind not to notice. Not to mention the powers that hide within you."

He nodded as he took this in, "I had been trying to conceal my chakra. I don't want to make my presence known to other ninja as I travel."

"Don't worry, young man," she waved her hand around dismissively, "Most shinobi wouldn't have noticed unless they were looking. But as I said before, I was quite a good ninja in my time."

"I was impressed with your hand seals," he said, showing genuine respect, "I have never seen such a thing before. Could you teach me one handed seals?"

"If there is time," she said, "Speaking of time, I am well enough. We can continue onward on foot."

He hadn't been trying to hide the fact that they had been moving since he had knelt down with her. The sand that protected them from the rain and mud had been carrying them along the road at a reasonable clip, as Gaara tried to make up time. "You do not require more rest?" he asked, "You seemed to have been in pain when you used your jutsus before."

"I can rest when we reach my son's home," she said, standing as the sand parted around her and she began to lean on Gaara's arm again. The sand coalesced on his back, forming into the pack again. "Now, as I recall, you said that you wanted to help me because you wanted me to finish my story."

He nodded to her as they continued their slow walk through the rain. "Now, the assassin had appeared before my husband and myself. We knew that it was unlikely that we would escape with our lives, but our only other choice was to lay down and die. And so, we began to battle with him."

"It quickly grew out of control as our most powerful jutsus and summons were countered by even more powerful ones from him," she recalled, "The fight destroyed a large area of land and part of a nearby village." Gaara tried to imagine it in his head and had little difficulty. Jounin level battles and above were not unheard of for him.

"As the battle wound down, it became more and more clear who had the advantage. The assassin would kill us both, and our child if he knew about the young boy. It was something my husband could not abide."

Gaara continued to listen intently, paying little mind as they entered the gates of a moderately large city. He had even forgotten the rain and humidity that had irritated him so. She continued as they made their way through the busy streets.

"I don't know what it was exactly, or where he learned it, but he activated a forbidden, suicide jutsu. Looking at me, he smiled and told me, 'I love you so much, and I always will. In this world and the next.' After that, he bounded forward toward the assassin. There was an explosion, and then he was gone, along with the assassin. The man I loved so much, had simply stopped existing in this world, and left me behind."

She looked over at the young ninja, who stared intently at her, unsure what to say or feel. "You are still a little young to know about love," she said, some bittersweet emotion seeping into her voice, "But don't worry, I think you will definitely find someone who loves you as much as I loved him."

The gears in his head ground to a halt at those two sentences. _I don't know what it is like to love another like that, but I do know that I have taken that love away in my thirst for blood. _His self loathing was interrupted by the other statement. He found it hard to believe that anyone would ever love him at all, and certainly not enough to give their life for him.

_But what if she's right?_

He felt warm and found himself hiding an unexpected smile. Apparently, he didn't hide it from her very well, as he felt a light pinch on his cheek as she laughed out loud, "You're cute when you blush. Anyone with a shy smile like that will find their special someone in no time!"

* * *

**Many miles away, in the Hidden Village of the Leaf…**

"_Ah-choo!"_

It was remarkably dainty for a sneeze, with a cuteness that fit the person it came from perfectly.

"What was that, Hinata?" Kiba asked, starting to laugh.

The girl blushed as she tried to sink a little lower in her seat, "E-Excuse me."

Shino broke his day long silence with a quiet suggestion, "Perhaps someone is talking about you."

Kiba laughed harder, "That's a good one, Shino!"

The young man stared at Kiba silently through his sunglasses as Hinata blushed even further. _Maybe it was Naruto…_

The two boys didn't even notice her sheepish smile behind them.

* * *

**Back to Gaara…**

"Thank you so much for bringing me to my son's house," the old woman said.

The Sand nin had been slightly taken aback when she had led him to the mansion he was currently standing in. As it turned out, the woman's son was Mayor of this city, and had been for some number of years. He had built up an impressive fortune, and it showed in the ornate decorations inside his large abode.

"Yes," her somewhat portly son added, "Thank you for bringing her safely here. I'm sure she exaggerates, but if you fought off even one brigand, then you deserve this." He handed Gaara an envelope, which he looked at questioningly. "Please don't open it until you leave. I don't want to have to convince you to keep it." The man, who appeared to be nearing senior citizen status himself, smiled at the young shinobi, who simply placed the envelope in his pocket.

"Now, now, don't spoil the young man," she jokingly chided her son.

"Come on now, Mother," he turned to her, "It's been a long, hard day for you. I think you need to sit down and take a nap." He motioned for one of the maids to come and lead the old woman to the next room. Gaara felt slightly indignant at seeing such an impressive ninja being spoken to in such a way, but on the other hand, she had indeed started to look quite pale.

"I'd like to ask something," the shinobi spoke out suddenly, "before I go, there's something I want to ask." She motioned him to come over, which he did. She shifted her weight onto his arm as the maid moved several paces away.

"What is it, young man?"

"Why did you tell me that story?" he asked, voicing the thing that had been bothering him since they arrived.

She laughed quietly, "I knew you were a shinobi from the moment I saw you. That is why I called you over to walk with me. It wasn't for protection, but to tell you about my husband. I told you because you are a ninja."

Gaara turned this over in his mind, but still was at a loss, "But why did you tell the story at all?"

She reached up and rapped his head with her knuckles twice. There was surprisingly little force behind it, "You should be able to see that for yourself." When she saw that the blank look had not left his face, she sighed, "I told you that story so you could see the damage a shinobi can do to the lives of others. Not just the ones he kills, but the ones that are left to mourn his victims."

He blinked at this as her words hit home. Seeing that something stirred in his mind, she added, "Many times a ninja must kill to fulfill his duty, but killing for the sake of killing cannot lead you to where you want to go."

Her wrinkled hand came up and patted his shoulder, "Don't worry too much, young man," she spoke warmly, her smile returning to her face, "Someday you'll find the girl for you. And I want to be the first one to know when you do."

Motioning for the maid, she shifted her weight off Gaara's arm. Giving him a wink, she slowly shuffled out of the room. The red haired young man was lost in thought for several moments before moving back over to where the mayor was still standing.

"So," he said, disbelief tingeing his voice "Were there really fourteen bandits out there?"

Gaara hesitated for a moment, figuring that it was best to avoid drawing attention to his abilities. "She may have exaggerated a little," he replied, his voice noncommittal.

"I thought as much," he said, smiling a little, "Whoever they were, they were probably trying to hold her for ransom. It's no secret that I've amassed quite a little fortune." He sighed before continuing, "She's starting to get a little old, and a little harder to be patient with. Still, she's my Mother and I love her very much. I truly thank you for protecting her."

Feeling a little uncomfortable with the heartfelt praise being heaped on him, Gaara changed the subject, "Why did she want to visit you so badly today? Why not tomorrow or the day after?"

"She always makes a surprise visit on this day every year," he replied, "It's not really much of a surprise anymore. I try to send people to escort her here, but she always manages to disappear into the woods and then sneak into the mansion," he chuckled as he said this, "I suppose she's a little too old to be doing that anymore, too." He noticed Gaara's emotionless eyes on him and realized he hadn't answered the question, "Well, the reason that she always comes here on this day, is so we can go and pray at my father's grave. Today is the anniversary of his death."

It all made sense now. There had been so many things that had confused or surprised him since meeting the old kunoichi, but now they had all fallen into place. _This,_ he thought, _is the kind of experience that I wanted when I left on this journey._ He had learned a great deal in the last day, and had seen more about himself, as well.

Blinking to himself, Gaara thought of one more thing that he had to know. "I need to ask her something else, something I have to know," he spoke, turning toward the room the old woman had been led into. Her son seemed surprised and mumbled out a short protest, but didn't try to stop him.

Opening the door, he saw her sitting in a reclined chair near the fireplace. Moving over to her, he spoke in earnest, "There is one more thing I need to know. Please tell me if…" He trailed off in mid-sentence, feeling something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" the man asked, following Gaara into the room, "Oh, I see. C'mon, Mother, wake up for a minute! This young man has something he wants to ask you before he leaves."

Her eyes did not open, nor did she stir. "Mother?" his voice held a hint of worry.

Gaara stepped forward, placing his hand on her forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated, searching. Her skin still held some warmth, but he could feel no chakra. It wasn't that it was not flowing through her body, there just wasn't any there.

Removing his hand, he did not open his eyes. Turning away, he could hear her son as he began to realize the truth. The old man's sobs made Gaara clutch at his chest, instinctively trying to placate the pain he felt.

**

* * *

**

He disliked the rain.

He didn't understand how the old woman could have lived in a place that it came down so much. Then again, she had been a kunoichi of the Hidden Village of Rain. She probably liked it that way.

Gaara had never been to a funeral before. He had seen death more times than he would ever remember, but funerals were never something that he had any interest in. Maybe it was that he had no interest in saying goodbye to people he didn't know or care about. It didn't matter to him one way or the other. This was the first one he had seen.

He had quietly viewed the body of the old woman, dressed in white with a white square of cloth draped over her face. Not knowing what to think about what he was seeing, he simply thought about the woman's story. About her and her husband, about the things she must have seen, the battles she must have fought. How many things must have happened to her to have brought her to meet him on the road on her last day of life?

Walking slowly behind the rest of the procession as they walked in the rain, Gaara followed them to the cemetery, umbrella in hand, where they buried her next to the grave of her husband. He watched as she was lowered into the ground, and he wondered if she would be able to meet her husband again. He had never given any thought to such things before, but now he found himself hoping that they were true.

Almost before he realized it, the rain had stopped. The sun was peeking out from behind the clouds near the western horizon. The majority of the procession had left, so Gaara took this chance to make his way over to the grave.

He found that being closer made him feel no better, in fact, he felt a little odd. There was a small mound of wet earth, under which was the form that had leaned on his arm and pinched his cheek. Slowly, his gaze moved upward, finally setting on the marker stone.

"Yomonoko Koyone," he spoke to no one in particular.

For some reason, knowing her name had made him feel a little better, though he didn't understand why at all. It hadn't seemed to matter when she was alive. He did know that he would not forget that name, and that he wouldn't let it be forgotten by others, either.

"Still here, Gaara?" came the somber voice of Ryoto, her son.

He didn't look away from the grave as the other man stood beside him, "Still here."

"I know I thanked you before," the older man started, "for protecting Mother while she was on the road, but I haven't realized until now how deeply indebted to you I am."

Gaara glanced over at the other man, "What do you mean?"

"If those men had taken Mother hostage like they planned," he said, "She would have died while being held captive. Because you helped her, she left this world in peace, and you allowed me to see her one last time. That is something that I cannot put a price on." Gaara took this in, but said nothing, opting to turn his head back to Koyone's grave. The man added, "I will be forever indebted to you for what you have done for me, and for her. If you ever need a favor, no matter what it is, come to me. I will do whatever I can to help you."

Nodding, but still saying nothing, Gaara knelt down, forming a small patch of sand under his knee to keep himself clean. After remaining like that for a moment, he whispered, "I…hope that you were correct about the girl who would love me as you did your husband. I will do my best to find her." After pausing for a moment, he looked up at the sky that had stopped raining. Looking back at the grave, he took his umbrella and set it so that it would shield the stone from the next rain, whenever it came. "Sayonara, Yomonoko Koyone. I am glad to have known you." With that he stood, turned, and walked away.

"Hey, Gaara," the old man called out to him, "What was it that you wanted to ask Mother that day? The question that you had to know the answer to."

The red haired boy stopped, and called back over his shoulder, "I wanted to know if she could have forgiven him."

"Who?" he asked after a moment.

"The man who killed your Father," Gaara replied, "If he had asked her forgiveness, I wanted to know if she could have given it to him."

"That's a hard thing to ask, Gaara," he said, "Forgiving someone for killing your loved ones is not an easy thing, not even for someone as strong as my Mother."

Nodding briefly, Gaara continued his walk. "I will return to visit her grave. I will see you then."

"Until then, Gaara," Ryoto said, "Be safe."

The young shinobi continued on in silence, pondering what Ryoto had said. _Forgiving someone for killing your loved ones is not an easy thing. I wonder if I will ever be forgiven for everything I have done?_

_

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**A/N**

That chapter turned out longer than I expected. It also turned out better than I had expected. I hope that all of you enjoyed it.

From now on I'll be responding to reviews directly, so no more review responses in the AN.

Right now the chapters are more or less stand alone, sort of like individual short stories, but soon they will start to have effects on later stories and, like I said last chap, an overarching storyline will appear.

Well, I'll keep this AN short this time, so please review and I'll see you next chapter!

Katamari Damacy


	3. Cho Han

Note: The honorific –sama will make an appearance in this chapter. As you have probably noticed, I have avoided using honorifics to make things easier on me, but I think that it will work better in this case if I use –sama. This sort of thing may pop up again later in the story. Just roll with it. ;)

I forgot to say this in the first two chapters: I don't own Naruto. Way to shatter my dreams, everyone! (_runs__off crying)_

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_Drifting Sand_

_Chapter Three_

_Cho_… _Han… I'm the Guy with the Sand_

Gaara had spent most of the morning sitting beneath the branches of an elm tree. Sleep was not something that he allowed for himself, fearing that the monster sealed within his body, Shukaku, would consume him. Still, he did rest periodically, and this seemed as good a place as any to do so.

As the warm sun climbed to its zenith, he leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree and stared up at the canopy of leaves. They were of a different shape, but he couldn't help but be reminded of the symbol of Konoha, and the people he knew there.

He had considered making a detour to the north, now that he had entered the Country of Fire, and pay a visit to the people who had so changed his life. Konoha wasn't very far from where he was at, after all. This thought was shaken from his mind, however, as he remembered that he had wanted to make this trip on his own. Going to a familiar place so early in his journey would defeat the purpose of going on the journey to begin with.

Leaving these musings behind, he stood and looked once more at the city that lay before him, sprawled out in the valley below.

The young shinobi had overheard travelers in the last village speak of this place. The Gambling City of Gyoukou was famous as being the third largest gambling spot in the country, and one of the largest cities as well. It was obvious from looking at the place that these were not exaggerations. The city was as big as the Hidden Village of Sand, if not a little larger.

Making his way back to the nearby road, Gaara proceeded down into the city. Looking around, he was in awe of how many gambling places there were in the crowded streets. It seemed that if the building didn't house a place to bet your money, it was a place to spend it on alcohol. He found himself wondering if there were really so many people that enjoyed wasting their money and time on such things.

As he continued further into the city, the crowds thickened. Even so, the Sand ninja easily saw the other boy coming toward him. As he bumped into Gaara, he seemed a little surprised at how easily he was knocked to the ground.

Glancing at the angry looking boy, who seemed to be of a similar age to Gaara, the shinobi began to walk on. "Hey!" the black haired boy yelled, "You should watch where you are going! Aren't you even going to apologize?"

Stopping, Gaara turned his emotionless, black ringed eyes on the irritated youth, who seemed to loose some of his ire under the cold gaze. Slowly taking a few steps toward the still seated boy, he reached into his pocket and held out a paperback book with an orange cover. "I am sorry that you are a better target than a thief," he said flatly. The boys eyes widened in surprise as Gaara added, "Perhaps you should focus your efforts on holding on to your own property before you try to steal someone else's." Looking angry and scared, he glanced at the book Gaara was returning to him, saw his cold eyes staring at him again, then scrambled away into the milling crowd.

Watching the thief run, Gaara had no desire to expend the effort to follow. Thieves were no concern of his. Especially not one that is so bad at it that Gaara had been able to not only take back the envelope that Ryoto had given him, but also take the other boy's book.

Having reminded himself that he still held the paperback in his hand, he glanced briefly at it. He saw the picture on the front, a woman being chased by a man, and almost discarded the thing. _Perhaps it would be good to read something new,_ he thought to himself. It had been quite a while since he had read a novel. Pocketing it for later, the red haired ninja continued further into the city.

As he watched, he saw more and more things that he wanted to observe. It didn't take very long before he decided that he would likely need two or three days to see everything that he wanted to. Checking to make sure he still had the money that he had brought with him on his trip, he turned into the first building he found that said inn on it. It also said bar, cards, dice, and cabaret on it, but he wasn't interested in any of that.

The inside of the large building was impressive. The walls were decked with many fine paintings and elaborate woodwork. Expensive looking vases stood in the corners and very finely dressed people milled about, laughing and talking about their winnings or how much they had to drink. Gaara's clothes were made more for durability than fashion, not to mention that he was covered in a fine layer of dust from the road. He noticed that he was standing out somewhat from the other guests. He would have to do something about that.

Moving up to the front desk, the middle aged man working there looked warily at the red haired boy. "I would like a room," he stated simply, "I will be staying for three days. How much will that cost?"

The man gave a distasteful snigger, "I doubt your allowance will suffice. Perhaps you should find another place that is more suited to your…social class."

"I did not ask for your opinion on the matter," he felt some irritation at the condescending tone in this mans voice, "I asked you how much it would cost."

Rolling his eyes as he sighed to himself, he briefly checked the register, completely unaware of how close to death he might have been. "We only have a few rooms available," he said, apparently annoyed that he had to humor the dust covered boy in front of him, "The least expensive one will be the Hikata Suite. With the fee for having no reservation, a three day stay in that room will be twenty thousand ryo." Gaara nodded, unfastening a tie on one of his pockets and drawing out a large stack of bills. The deskman's eyes widened as his mouth hung open at the sight.

Gaara had brought with him nearly 50,000 ryo with him when he left the Hidden Village of Sand (being the son of the Kazekage, even the hated son, had its advantages). He had barely spent any of it in the nearly three weeks he had been traveling thus far, so he didn't think much of the price for the room. Of course, he had never really dealt with money before, so he had no idea that he was handing over enough money to almost buy a small yacht.

The deskman slowly took the proffered cash with the look of shock still covering his face. Looking down at the money in his hands, and realizing that it was indeed real, his face suddenly broke into a broad smile, "I apologize for my words earlier, it was inexcusable." With a flourish, he passed the money off to a confused looking underling and jingled a key as he walked around the desk, "Right this way, young master! I can have one of our men carry your bag for you, do you have any other luggage?"

"No," he responded, not entirely sure what to make of the deskman's sudden change in demeanor, "and I can carry it myself."

"Nonsense!" he bellowed, "I will not have one of our guests carry his own bag to his room! Please, let our man carry it for you." He motioned, and a boy in his late teens bounded forward, holding his arms out.

"You'll need a bigger man," Gaara said flatly.

The boy seemed a little irked, but otherwise maintained his composure. "Please, young master," he said dutifully, "Allow me to carry your bag for you."

Not caring either way, certainly not enough to make a big deal out of it, Gaara shrugged his large sand made backpack off one shoulder and swung it around so he was holding it out with both hands to the older boy. "I have it, sir," he said from the other side of the normal looking bag. When the young shinobi let go, however, the bellhop discovered just how abnormally heavy it was.

Several people nearby looked over when the bag slammed into the floor, taking the teenager with it. "What are you doing?" the deskman demanded, "Hurry up, and don't drop it again! If you break something belonging to this young man, it will come out of your pay!"

"There is nothing breakable in the bag," he told them, though neither one seemed to hear. The bellhop, struggling with all his might, was barely able to slide it around a little bit. Motioning to some of the other bellhops, who had been trying not to laugh out loud at the trouble their friend was having, two more ran over.

"Now, sir," the deskman's smile had returned, "If you will follow me, I will show you to your room." Turning, he motioned for Gaara to follow him as he moved further into the building.

"My name is Nikkuro, by the way," he said as they started, "I'm sorry I forgot to ask you yours."

"Gaara," he said simply.

"Please do not hesitate to call on me during your stay here, Gaara-sama. I exist to serve." Gaara nodded absently as they moved from the large lobby into the voluminous main floor. "This is the gambling area for the Hotel Daioh. Any game that you might want to play is here, though you are under the age limit," he rubbed the side of his nose, "Maybe your Mom or Dad will let you play a little when they arrive?"

Tensing slightly at the man's words, he quickly got hold of himself and replied dispassionately, "My parents are dead."

It was the deskman's turn to feel uncomfortable. "Oh, I ah," he stuttered out apologetically, "I'm sorry, young man. I truly am. I've seen that sort of thing all too often in this town."

"What do you mean," he asked, curious about the last part.

Clearing his throat and trying to smile again, Nikkuro tried to change the subject, "There's no need for you to dwell on something like that, Gaara-sama! You came here to relax and have fun!" Noticing the narrowed eyes looking his way, the older man gave a relenting sigh, "All right, but please don't ask me about anything else so depressing." Gaara made no moves to show whether he acceded to the request, so he continued in a slightly more hushed tone.

"There has always been a seedy element in this city," he said, "It goes with the territory, so to speak. But in the last five years it has grown much worse. One of the gangs has all but consolidated its power and taken control of the south eastern part of the city."

"They are trying to take over the city?" Gaara concluded out loud.

"That's what they want, yes," Nikkuro nodded, quickly adding, "But don't worry, this hotel is completely legitimate, and we keep it free of criminal riff raff like them." Sighing again, he continued, "They use their cheap gambling dens to draw people in when they are down on their luck. Dealers in these places use all sorts of methods to cheat innocent people out of their money. Then they persuade them to try higher stakes games to get out of debt, but it just gets worse. They force entire families to work off their debt, splitting them up most of the time. They sometimes work the parents to death, if they don't kill them outright. It's horrible."

Gaara continued to listen, but the man seemed like he did not wish to speak about it anymore. Suddenly stopping, the large smile had returned to his face, "This is your room." He motioned to the double doors that they stood next to and pulled out the key that he had shown earlier. Unlocking the doors, he pushed both of them open to reveal the huge room beyond.

Simply staring for a moment, Gaara was surprised at just how large his room was. He had seen dojos smaller than this place. "This is for me?" he asked, "I am not sharing the room with others?"

Nikkuro chuckled a little at this, "Good joke, young master!" The shinobi wanted to tell him that it wasn't a joke, but decided that it still answered his question. This humongous room was his. "This is obviously the living area, and the kitchen area is right here. It's more for drinks than anything else." He walked across to one of the walls as Gaara watched the three bellhops struggle through the door with his pack. "Through this door, is the bath area and adjoining toilet."

"There is more to this room?" Gaara asked, the slightest bit of disbelief creeping into his voice.

"Oh yes, young master," he replied with a smile, "I think you will find it most satisfactory. Also, you will find several sizes of robes in the bath area. You can find the one that fits you best and wear that while your clothes are washed. Oh!" suddenly he sounded like he had just remembered something important, "One of the best features of the Hikata Suite!" Chuckling to himself, he quickly pranced across to the back of the room, flicking a switch.

Gaara watched as what looked like the back wall began to roll up and away into the ceiling, leaving the entire wall as one huge window. _Why do people desire things like this? You could look out a normal window just as easily. Besides, this is just asking some no-talent ninja-wannabe to spy on you._ However unnecessary he deemed it, the older man seemed so proud of the thing, Gaara decided not to voice his criticisms.

As he walked back towards the double doors, the deskman continued, "If you want any food or drinks just call for room service and they will bring whatever you like. Kotori will be up shortly, so if you wish to take a bath, please feel free. Enjoy your stay here and let me know if you need anything else, young master." With a deep bow from all four of them, Nikkuro and the bellhops backed out the double doors as they closed.

Gaara blinked after them and wondered for a moment. _Kotori?_ He shook his head as he moved over to the enormous window overlooking the city.

The orange glow of the sun was washing over the taller buildings in the late afternoon, leaving the streets and the shorter structures in shadow. It was something else that he had seen before, but he again found it strangely new. This time, however, there was something tickling the back of his mind as he observed the scene before him. Even as he felt pleased that he had found this interesting dichotomy, he also felt something less appealing about it, though he didn't know what exactly.

Noticing something out of place, he removed something from his pocket. It was the orange book that he had taken from the boy earlier. He had forgotten about the thing over the last several hours of walking through the city. Gaara considered reading some of it, but didn't get the chance to even open it.

The knock on the double doors didn't surprise him, since he had felt a presence well before they had reached his room, but he did feel as though he had been yanked out of his thoughts. With mild irritation at the interruption he tossed the book on the bed, walked silently across the room, and opened one of the doors.

In the hallway stood a woman so beautiful that even Gaara was momentarily taken aback. She looked as though she was in her mid twenties, and her long black hair was held up with two long ornamental pins. Her green kimono was the same emerald color as her eyes, though she wore it so that the collar was a little closer to her shoulders than to her neck. She gave a warm smile at the youth in front of her, "You must be Gaara-sama."

Gaara, for his part, was trying to keep his mind clear. _She could be an enemy, I have to stay focused!_ Her smile proved to be more disarming than he was prepared for, however. She slowly moved into the room as he backed up slightly, closed the door behind her, then bowed toward the red haired boy, "I'm Kotori. I will ensure that you have a pleasant stay here at our hotel. Normally I would tell the customer that I'm only here for company, and nothing more." She gave him a knowing wink and a sly smile, "But I don't think I have to worry about you trying anything ungentlemanly." He was having trouble doing much more than blinking at her, something she seemed to find most amusing.

_Ungentlemanly?_ _Isn't that what Chika asked me?_ "What does that mean, exactly?"

She gave him a questioning look, obviously not sure what he meant, "What, you mean ungentlemanly?" He nodded, causing her cheeks to show a slight shade of pink, "Well, uh, I guess…we can just discuss that later!"

Leaving Gaara at the door, she made her way toward the couch. Finally grasping his senses, he blurted out, "What are you doing here?"

Her lips had a slight upward curl to them as she sat down, "Like I said, I'm here to make sure that you enjoy yourself while you're here. I can show you around the hotel and-"

Shaking his head slightly, he spoke again in a much firmer voice, "Why?"

Suddenly looking quite hurt, her voice almost seemed to tremble, "You, you don't want me here?"

He found himself surprised at this woman's behavior yet again, "I simply asked you why you are here."

She stood up, and began to hurry herself across the room as quickly as she could wearing a kimono, "It's fine if you don't want me around. Since I'm not good enough, I'll just go!" The emotion in her voice seemed to strike him like a blow to the stomach. As he watched her shuffle past him, he saw a tear on her pale cheek.

"Wait." He found himself grabbing her hand, pulling her to a stop, "I do not wish to upset you. Stay here, if it will make you feel better."

Kotori turned to smile at him with a face completely devoid of signs of crying, "Thank you, Gaara-sama! I would love to stay!" Shuffling back to the couch with a pleased smile that seemed to make the room better illuminated, she left Gaara wondering just what in the world had just happened.

Patting the couch next to her, he looked at her for a moment. He was certain she was about to try some other strange stunt on him, and he wanted to be prepared. He soon noticed her patting the couch next to her again. Knowing full well that he shouldn't, he moved over to the couch and sat a little more than an arm's reach from her.

Obviously deciding that she didn't like this arrangement, the older girl shifted over until she was right next to him, close enough to reach out his elbow and touch her. Close enough for the scent of her perfume to reach him. The pleasing scent of jasmine made him want to stay right where he was at, but he was too nervous from her proximity to allow that.

Quickly shifting down the couch to a safe distance, he saw that as soon as he had set himself down in his new place, the smiling woman had repositioned herself just as close as before. Moving again, this time to the end of the couch, he found that she had followed him again. Running out of options, he moved to a cushioned armchair that sat at a ninety degree angle to the couch. _If she tries to sit next to me on this thing, I'll know that she's trying to kill me._

Kotori seemed contented to sit at the end of the couch, however, and that is where she settled. Breathing a small sigh of relief, he noticed the broad smile she was giving him. "So why do you not like being around others?" she asked, as if she were asking about the weather.

Not expecting the question, Gaara hesitated before answering, "I have spent most of my life alone. I am not used to interacting with people."

"I can tell," she laughed, "but you should give others a chance once in a while. We're not all bad." Her laughter quickly died away, however, and a somber tone took over, "I heard from Nikkuro that you lost your parents. I lost mine, too, so I can sort of understand how you might want to shut others away."

"That's not exactly why I keep to myself," he answered truthfully. He kept to himself because the others in his village hated and were terrified of him since he was born.

"Oh," she said, trying to smile again, though it was somewhat embarrassed, "I see. Well, just forget I said anything."

There was an awkward silence, and Gaara could see the girl, who had been so energetic and cheerful before, looking uncomfortable and slightly pink in the face. Wanting to break the silence, he spoke up, "What happened to your parents?"

Looking over at the boy, she forced another smile at him, "They died as slaves to the Otoka Gento gang. Father became too in debt to them, and he and my mother paid the price. He was worked to death in their warehouses. Mother," she paused, her voice wavering, "she was taken to one of the seedier brothels." She didn't seem to want to speak any further.

"I thought that debts were passed to the children," he said, "Why have they not come for you?"

"Nikkuro is sheltering my little brother and I, since he was an old friend of my Mother," she responded with a small, but genuine smile, "The Otoka Gento probably know that I'm here, but it would be too much trouble to come get me. This hotel does everything it can to keep the gangs out, so as long as I stay here, I'm safe."

"So," he asked, "You can't leave the hotel?"

She shook her head, "I haven't left this building in four years."

Gaara had a difficult time understanding why these gangsters were so persistent. This young lady was trapped here, afraid to leave because her parents owed some money. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it sounded to him.

He began to wonder what he might be able to do. Quickly realizing that there were too many things that he didn't know, he decided that he needed to gather information to see which type of plan would work best. Standing suddenly, his unexpected movement made Kotori jerk back on the couch.

"I will be going out for a while," he stated, feeling like himself again, "I will return when I have gathered the information I require."

Utterly confused at his words, Kotori could only watch as he grabbed several handfuls of sand from his pack, stuffing it into several small pouches at his waist. The sight was nonsensical to her, but a tactical decision for him. If these gangsters were as dangerous as everyone seemed to think they were, it was possible that he would see combat. Since carrying around all of it would be far too suspicious, he had to limit himself to what he could conceal in his clothes.

Finally voicing her curiosity, she asked, "What are you doing?"

As he stood, deciding he had enough sand to protect himself if he was careful, he turned his head to face her. He felt some small satisfaction that for once, she was the one who was confused, "I am going to find out some things. I will return when I am finished." As he turned toward the double doors, he called over his shoulders, "I will require clothing that is more suitable to this hotel. It needs to be easy to move in. Can you find something for me?"

"Uh, sure," she stuttered out, "I'll have it here for you when you return, Gaara-sama."

He paused as he opened the doors. Looking back over his shoulder, he corrected her, "Not sama, just Gaara." With that, he closed the doors and quickly made his way out of the hotel.

_Nikkuro said that they had taken over the south eastern part of the city, didn't he?_ Gaara quickly oriented himself by the stars as he asked himself the question. In a matter of seconds, he began to walk down the roads of the city, trying to make his way south east.

_**You think that if you help her out, she'll be your friend? That she'll care for you?**_

_It doesn't matter if she cares for me._

_**Oh? Then why try to help her? We always expect something in return when we do someone a favor. What sort of favors will you ask of her?**_

_I'm not doing this for favors. I'm doing this because it's what Uzumaki Naruto would do._

**_Who are you trying to fool? You want her to care for you! But as soon as she finds out about _us_, she's going to despise you just like everyone else did!_**

…_It doesn't matter. I want to help her and I will. Whatever happens in the end, will happen._

He could see the degrading appearance of the buildings as he went further and further along, as well as the degrading appearance of the people. The crowds of people, most of whom were starting to look as bad, if not worse, than the gambling halls they frequented, were even larger and more numerous than they were when he had arrived that afternoon.

After almost an hour of treading through the streets, Gaara picked a gambling hall out at random. It was rough around the edges, but looked much better than the hole in the wall dens and bars that surrounded it, indicating that it was doing pretty well for itself. Taking some time to survey the place, it didn't take the young ninja very long to notice that most of the gamblers that went in with looks of hope, and the vast majority that came out seemed like scolded dogs.

Making his decision, Gaara moved across the street and easily slipped past the bouncer at the front door. The inside was illuminated even worse than the street outside. In the center of the room, there was a large mat with fifteen men sitting around three sides. The last side had three, the center one shirtless as he held a cup and dice. The other two seemed to be taking care of the bets.

There was a great deal of chatter from the crowd in the room, most of which was gibberish to Gaara. Eventually, after spending almost half an hour listening and watching, he began to decipher the gambling language that the men in the room were communicating in. It was far easier to figure out the game itself, which consisted of betting whether the dice in the cup were showing an even number (cho) or odd (han). It seemed to him that these people were making this game far too complicated with all their slang and talk about the odds.

Still, he found it fascinating that men would bet the fruits of their labor, sometimes their entire livelihoods, on the roll of two stupid dice. It was almost beyond his comprehension that they would leave their future up to chance when they could take matters into their own hands.

Besides, didn't anyone else notice that the man doing the rolling was changing the dice out?

He'd noticed it the moment he walked in the door, but couldn't figure out why he was doing it until the rules of the game had become clear. He was periodically swapping between two sets, once that seemed to be weighted to come up cho, one set that usually came up han. He would wait until the men seemed to believe there was a 'streak' going, then swap the dice to go against the streak, taking everyone's winnings back and then some.

But it was so obvious, could it really be that no one else in the entire hall had noticed it? Then again, it would work to his advantage in this case. Going over his plan once in his head, then going over it again, Gaara began his preparations. Remaining in the shadows of the hall, and making sure no one noticed, he allowed a trickle of sand to fall from his pocket. Careful to keep it dispersed, he moved it invisibly to the other side of the room, then snuck it toward the dice roller from behind. Once it was in place, he made his move.

Everyone present seemed more than a little surprised when the boy, barely a teenager, took a seat at the betting mat. The money men and the roller laughed, but made no attempt to stop him as he placed a thousand ryo in front of him. The other men around him made no move to talk him out of it either, more concerned with their own money than the fate of a youngster. _Just as I planned._

The Sand nin was keeping a watchful eye on the dice as the thrower waved them around flamboyantly. He easily saw the moment that the man swapped the dice from the hiding place in the folds of cloth around his waist.

The roller held the dice up, threw them into the cup sideways, then upturned the cup and slammed it to the mat before the dice could escape. After sliding the cup around for several seconds to make sure the dice were flat on the mat, he kept one hand on the cup and raised the other one.

"Place your bets!" the diceman yelled. As the gamblers began placing their bets, it became clear that most were going with even. When the diceman pointed at Gaara, he firmly set the betting marker next to his money, "Cho." Soon, all betting was finished and all the men at the mat watched with sweaty brows and some with trembling hands. The only ones who didn't seem to be worried were the workers and Gaara.

With a grin, the diceman lifted the cup to reveal a two and a three. "Han!" he yelled. Obviously the stakes were high for all involved, and it showed through the gambler's expressions. Most of the men at the mat groaned, two even broke down and began to cry. The only one who hadn't reacted when the roll was shown was Gaara.

As the two money men began to reach for the cash that the gamblers had lost, Gaara never took his eyes off the diceman, who seemed particularly proud of himself. When he sensed a hand reach for the thousand ryo sitting before him, his own hand slammed down on it first.

The money man seemed at a loss for a moment. "Come on now, little man," his nasal voice held a not so subtle threat to it, "You lost the bet, so the money is ours now. Give it here and get lost or we'll have to teach you a lesson."

"My understanding of the game," Gaara responded, loud enough to be heard over the groans of his fellow gamblers, "is that money is only exchanged after a legitimate roll."

In a matter of seconds, the large room had become rather quiet. Murmurs could still be heard, but at nowhere near the volume of before. The diceman seemed to look as if Gaara had just insulted his mother, "What did you just say, punk? Are you implying that I cheated?"

"There is no implication necessary," he replied as if he were stating the obvious, "You have been changing the dice all night to control the streaks."

The grumbling became louder as the diceman stood up, "Why you little…" His statement was interrupted as his other set of dice, helped by the sand Gaara had moved onto him earlier, popped out of his belt. They bounced onto the mat and came to rest on two fours.

"You've been cheating these people," Gaara said, his voice maddeningly calm, "I think they deserve their money back." _That should do it._

The grumbles of the gamblers quickly rose to a roar as they began to shout curses at the workers and demand their money. As they began to get more and more boisterous, the bouncers began to push their way in, trying to subdue the crowd.

Balling up the sand that was still on the diceman, Gaara caused it to flick around the room. After striking several of the gamblers and bouncers alike, the effect the young shinobi was expecting and hoping for came to pass. A brawl broke out, ensnaring more and more people.

The diceman sneered at Gaara just before he left out the back door with as much cash as he could carry. Seeing that his plan had worked perfectly so far, he put his thousand ryo back in his pocket, then blended away into the crowd. He emerged from the front door only moments later, unscathed and rather pleased with himself, though it didn't show on his face.

Things were going well, but he wasn't through yet. He had to hit two more dice halls to make sure his plan went forward to stage two. Looking up at the night sky above him, he allowed a small upward curl at the end of his mouth.

**

* * *

**

The morning light was coming through the blinds as the middle aged man lit his cigar. He was just about to have his first cup of coffee when someone burst into his office.

"Boss!" the thug called out, "We got a problem! Three of our dice houses got thrashed last night!"

The Boss was not pleased with this information. Especially not before he had his first cup of coffee. "Our losses?"

"Two of the places burned down," he said, "The last one got totally cleaned out. Our guys are still runnin' numbers, but they think about one million in damages and lost cash."

He could feel a vein throbbing in his head as he leaned forward on his desk, "One million?"

"Actually," the thug seemed to be loosing his nerve as his leader became more and more angry, "A little more than that. More like one and a quarter."

Rubbing his eyes and taking a deep breath to try and calm himself, the Boss asked, "Who was it? Cops? Another gang?"

"Umm," he seemed least enthusiastic about this answer, "Actually, our guys are saying that it was a red headed teenager." The Boss looked at the gangster as if he wasn't sure what he had just heard. "A bunch of the guys at all three of the dice halls said that the kid made a bet, and then caught our guys cheating. He stirred up the gamblers and they ransacked the building."

"A kid?" The thug nodded. "So find him and kill him."

"Well, we've been looking for him for several hours now," he explained, "but most of our guys are dealing with the bandits to the south and making sure people pay up. We haven't found him yet."

The Boss was starting to loose his patience with this nonsense, "So hire ninjas. Have them be here by noon."

"But Boss," the underling said, "Konoha ninjas won't take a job to rub out someone that young!"

Completely loosing it, the Boss slammed his hand on his desk as he stood, "Then hire them to catch the little puke and bring him here hogtied! I'll kill him! The Otoka Gento gang isn't going to sit and watch while some snot nosed punk gives us the bird! Now get out of my damn office and don't come back unless you have something I want to hear!"

As the thug ran out of the office, the Boss finally started on his morning cup of coffee. As he savored the aroma, he wondered to himself where he would go to disembowel this red haired kid.

* * *

**A/N**

This chapter required several changes and quite a bit of rewriting, so I hope you guys like it (and I hope it all makes sense).

This part of the story is likely going to cover three chapters, and I pretty much know what all will happen, so you can expect timely releases for the next two chapters just like the first three.

Okay, I got a question that I think I should go ahead and explain to everyone. In the last chapter, the part where Hinata sneezed was not really supposed to imply that she was Gaara's special someone. I had meant it as a joke, since Koyone (the old woman) was poking fun at Gaara's reactions. "Anyone with a _shy smile_ like that will find their special someone in no time!" I meant for the joke to apply to Hinata as well, but I guess it sort of had a more obvious meaning that I completely missed. Gaara and Hinata are not an item after the time skip, so nothing like that is going to happen in this story (sorry Gaara/Hinata shippers!)

I was going to say something about how few reviews I had received, then someone pointed out to me that I had foolishly forgotten to allow unsigned reviews (thank you Ehwinn!). Now that I accept unsigned reviews, there are no more excuses!

Thanks for reading! See you next chapter!

Katamari Damacy


	4. Unwise Wager

_Drifting Sand_

_Chapter Four_

_Unwise Wager_

As Gaara left the final gambling hall in flames, he took something with him. Someone to be more precise. One of the money men had run out the back door, only to find himself surrounded by darkness and unable to move.

He had taken his new friend, encased in sand, to the neighboring building. Gaara had been pleased that it had been so easy to find an abandoned shop in the run down area of the city, and he used it for a shorter than expected interrogation session.

The young Sand nin had bound the man in a chair of sand, ensuring that he remained hidden in the darkness. Apparently it had more of an effect than he expected (or the guy was a pansy, it wasn't really relevant), since it had only taken one broken finger to make the guy tell Gaara everything he wanted to know. He was lucky that Gaara had turned over a new leaf, and he wound up with just the finger and soiled underwear instead of death.

The Otoka Gento grifter had proved to be an adequate source of intelligence. It wasn't everything that the shinobi had been wanting to know, but it was enough to move forward with his plan.

He took his time walking to his new destination, stopping along the way to watch a street performer, who had puzzled Gaara with his odd puppet show, but was entertaining enough he supposed. He had also paused to try a nikkuman with some sort of spice mixed in. It didn't suit Gaara's palette very well, as he felt it needed more salt.

As he made his way to the other side of town, the streets seemed much cleaner while the people seemed lees desperate and more entertained. It was a far cry from the areas that the Otoka Gento gang operated in. The more differences he saw between the two areas, he became more convinced that he was correct in the path he was taking.

Since his showdown with Naruto, he had tried to change the way he dealt with life and the people around him. The idea that the blond boy had become so strong out of something so simple as the desire to protect others, the people he cared about, it had shocked him to no end. He wondered why something that seemed to come so instinctively to him, had seemed so foreign and impossible to Gaara.

Nevertheless, the young Sand nin found himself determined to find this strength for himself. He wanted to be strong, there was no doubt of that, but there was an ulterior motive that even Gaara had barely considered.

When he looked at Uzumaki Naruto, a boy who held a monster within him, just like Gaara, he saw something else besides strength. It was more than the fact that he had been powerful enough to defeat Gaara of the Sand. It was the memories of seeing the blond with others, and how they acted toward him.

His precious people cared about him. That was something that Gaara wished for desperately.

The people of the Hidden Village of Sand didn't give him much of a chance, though. He had returned, hoping that things would change for the better. Some things had changed, but so much of the hatred had remained the same. It hadn't taken very long for his heart to be shaken, and he knew that he wasn't strong enough to simply endure.

That was why he had left his home village. He needed to strengthen his heart so he could endure their spite for him. He would endure it for long enough to change their minds about him. He would show them that he wanted to protect, and they would recognize him not as a monster, but as a true shinobi of the Sand.

**_Wishful thinking. The people of the Sand have seen you at your most cruel, and they will not forget so easily._**

_I'm not asking everyone to love me, but I would like to be able to walk down a street without being stared at like a harbinger of death._

**_But that's what they know you as. Many of them had relatives or friends that you killed. Whether you were lusting for blood or defending yourself from attack, they will always think of you as the reason the people they cared for are dead. You will never win the heart of someone like that, so why even try?_**

_Maybe I can't win their hearts, but that doesn't mean I can't try to keep it from happening again. Even if they don't recognize me, I have to do something to even the scales._

_**Hrumph! Even the scales? For what you have done, it could take the rest of your life.**_

Gaara considered this for a moment. He had done many terrible things, hurt so many people, and killed more than he could count. How could he ever make up for all those things? How many lives would he have to save? Would one of his murders be cancelled out if he saved someone's life, or can no person's life be an even trade for another's?

The more he thought about it, the more of a grey area it all seemed to be. Were there no absolutes in the world? Was there no goal that, when reached, allowed him to say that he was free from the sins of his past? Were things really so complicated, or was he simply thinking about it too much?

He set the thoughts aside as he realized that he had arrived at his destination while the morning sun was not too far from the horizon. Circling the three story building, he determined where inside his target would be.

**

* * *

**

The Boss finished washing his hands. He felt ten pounds lighter as he opened the door back into his office. Once he had closed it behind him, he froze.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked unpleasantly.

He could see the back of someone, silhouetted against the windows as the sun poured in. They were in dark clothes, with what looked like a trench coat. A little on the short side, too, with red hair. The Boss's mouth had opened in surprise as he realized he was looking at the boy who had cost him so much money.

"Sit down," the boy said, "We have something to discuss."

The Boss could do nothing but smile at the audacity of this red haired kid. "You must have the sack of a tanuki, kid," he chuckled as he moved to his desk, "I can't help but wonder just what it is that you wanted to die so badly over."

Gaara didn't move. He simply stared out the window with his arms crossed over his chest. "There's a girl named Kotori," he said, "Her father owed you money so you worked her parents to death."

The older man smiled lazily, "You'll have to be more specific than that. I know a lot of girls named Kotori. I slept with one last night, as a matter of fact."

"She managed to find shelter from you and your men," Gaara continued, eye twitching slightly, "however, she cannot leave there for fear your men would capture her."

"Ahhhh," the Boss nodded, "You mean the girl who works at the Daioh Hotel. I know who you're talking about now. What about her?"

Gaara finally turned to face the other man. The Boss could see steel in the kids eyes. There was definitely something there, something that he liked. He would have made a good gang member, but unfortunately he was playing the wrong side. "I want you to forgive her debt and allow her to come and go as she pleases."

The room was filled with boisterous laughter. "You want me to just say, 'Okay, you don't have to pay me what you owe! Have a nice day!'? That's what you want?" The boy nodded, which brought another laugh from the man, "I'm afraid I can't do that, kid. You see, she owes me quite a bit of money. Besides, if I just forgave her debt like that, it wouldn't be fair to the other people who owe me."

"That doesn't concern me," Gaara said, a dangerous glint in his eyes, "If you do not leave her be, you will have more to worry about than a few dice houses being sacked. I will be back in three hours to hear your answer." With that, the boy tossed a pair of dice across the room. "Han," he said as they clattered onto his desk.

The Boss watched the dice as they bounced off his cigar case and came to a rest on a one and a two. He looked back at the boy to find that he had vanished without a trace.

Picking up the dice, he spoke to the empty room, "You can't predict all the rolls of the dice, kid, even when they're weighted to your favor."

There was a knock at the door, followed by the hesitant voice of one of his men, "The ninjas are here, sir."

"Bring them here," he responded, turning the dice in his palm.

The door opened and the shinobi from Konoha entered. He felt his blood pressure rise slightly, "Three kids? Is Konoha trying to insult me?"

The girl seemed irritated but kept her voice neutral, "We'll be more than enough to capture one troublemaker, sir."

The boy with the vest on spoke up, not seeming overly excited about being there, "The fee is nonrefundable, but we'll be happy to go if you don't think you need us."

Not caring for the boy's tone, he chose to ignore it for the time being, "The plans have changed. He's going to be coming here in three hours. Capture him here."

**

* * *

**

Gaara had made his point, but he felt that he would have to drive it home a little harder. The leader of those thugs seemed quite stubborn. The shinobi knew that he would have to be ready to disrupt business for him again after the sun set.

He had difficulty keeping his mind occupied for the three hours he had given the Boss. Would he let her go? If he did, how would Kotori react? His thoughts kept drifting back to her as he wandered the city.

_Why am I thinking about her so much? I don't even know her that well._

He would find out soon enough, he decided. The three hours were finally up, and he was back at the building he had visited with the Boss earlier. Knowing that he was expected, he kept his guard up and walked in through the front door.

The men and women inside knew about him from the rumors flying around all morning. They also knew that the Boss had left instructions to allow him in, but they were still dumbfounded by the fact that this kid fearlessly strolled in the way he did. He was starting to get annoyed with it by the time he made it to the office he was looking for.

He didn't bother to knock as he entered the room. The Boss sat behind his desk, almost exactly as Gaara had left him. He had a small grin on his face, and seemed as though he believed he had the upper hand. Quickly scanning the room, he searched for anything that was different from before.

The fireplace on the wall to his left was lit, and the sun was now overhead, so it wasn't shining through the windows to his right anymore. There was a bottle of liquor on his desk that looked as though he had just started on it. It felt odd, but he couldn't see anything else out of place. He stayed on guard and walked to the desk. "What is your reply?"

The Boss' smile grew slightly, "Straight to the point, huh? Too bad, I was hoping we could have a drink and talk a little before we got to the unpleasantness at hand."

Gaara crossed his arms, "I have nothing to talk to you about. You know what I want, now will you do it or not?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot agree to your demands," the Boss said.

"Then I will see you again tomorrow," Gaara turned, "Perhaps you will see reason by then."

"Wait just a moment, kid," the Boss spoke, "You said that we have nothing to talk about, but I beg to differ." Gaara looked at the man, saying nothing. "We have to discuss how you are going to compensate me for the damages you caused."

The red haired boy actually smiled in amusement, "Compensation?"

"Yes," came the reply, "Since you did so much damage, I was going to demand that you pay me back or work off your debt."

"You're dreaming," Gaara said, still smiling, "Or is it that you simply can't handle your alcohol?" He nodded at the almost full bottle on the desk.

The Boss chuckled at the remark, "I'm quite serious actually. There is a problem, however. Since by your clothes I doubt you are good to pay the cash, and your attitude tells me you wouldn't do very well working for me, there is really only one other option."

Gaara's smile had faded once again, "And that is?"

"In order to make an example of anyone who tries to pull something like this on me," he said, still grinning and pulling out what looked like a whistle, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you."

As he blew on the whistle, Gaara felt something. It was like seeing something move in the corner of your eye, but it was less tangible. Right outside the room, outside the building, too. How did he miss them? _Damn!_ He cursed his carelessness. He hadn't planned on him hiring ninjas.

He wasn't prepared for this. Most of his sand was in his room at the hotel. He could make sand from the dirt from the ground outside, but it would require a great deal of chakra, not to mention it would completely blow his cover, exposing him as a ninja.

It wasn't the time to think about those things, however. Within a second of the whistle being blown, Gaara had sensed his opponents and chosen a course of action. Escape.

Grabbing the bottle and a paperweight from the desk, he threw them in opposite directions. The bottle hit the fireplace and exploded at the same moment the weight shattered the window, quickly followed by Gaara as he flashed through the shards. He hoped that the bottle exploding up the fireplace and out the chimney would distract them for an extra split second while he put some distance between them.

It seemed like it had worked. His pursuers seemed to have lagged behind him, but he wasn't quite able to loose them so quickly. Of course, they likely had no idea that he was a shinobi as well, and hadn't expected him to move so quickly.

Gaara was tearing down the streets, leaping across roofs and off walls or light posts. If anyone saw them, he would have been too far away to notice by the time they reacted. He had covered in one minute the distance he had traveled in an hour at a leisurely pace that morning.

Suddenly making a hard turn, his momentum caused the electrical post he was on to groan and bend under the stress. As soon as he had launched himself to the left, he heard the clang of a ninja weapon striking the metal pole. _They aren't giving up. I can't fight them with so little sand, and I can't just give up. What can I do to loose them?_

Another kunai flew at him as he dodged to his left. He decided that he had little option other than to use the city buildings to loose them. Speeding up, he began to duck into streets and alleys, bouncing out the top of a shop and jumping off the side of an antenna through a mess of electrical wires.

Looking ahead, he noticed a narrow tower that had casino offices in them. At least that's what they looked like as he raced straight toward them. Seeing an open rectangular window, giving an opening of about one foot by two, he took it.

Jumping off another light pole, he flipped forward and slipped through the window feet first. Hitting the floor running, he flashed across the accountant's desks to the other side. Making his sand into a shield for just long enough to get through, he shattered a closed window as he flew forward to land on a mobile takoyaki stand.

Trying to feel out if they were still behind him, he realized just how persistent they were when he quickly felt them going around either side of the tower he had just gone through. _One on each side…only two of them? Ninja never do missions with just…damn!_

He had felt the surge of chakra too late. As he landed on top of the telephone pole, he stuck fast to it. Try as he might, he couldn't escape. It would have been more accurate to say that he couldn't move.

"You sure did give us some trouble," came the male voice, below and behind him, "You must have at least some training as a shinobi. I never expected you to run like that."

Gaara's lips curled upward in a barely noticeable smile, "Yet you managed to come up with a plan to have your teammates drive me right to you. It was well executed, but I would have expected a much deeper and complicated trap for me, Nara Shikamaru."

The Sand ninja felt his head swivel around to look at the Chuunin that had him in the Kagemane no Jutsu. The look on his face was more than a little surprised, then changed into a grin, "Like I said, I was expecting an easy catch. You ran so fast that I didn't have time to think of anything else."

"I was the one who fell into the trap, so I suppose I can't complain about how elaborate it is or isn't." Gaara moved his eyes to watch as the other two Konoha ninjas caught up. He knew very little of either of them, though he had seen both fight in the Chuunin preliminary matches. Both of them went very pale when they saw him.

"Uh, Shikamaru?" the large one asked, "Why is he here? Where's the guy we were chasing?"

"Yeah, what are you trying to do, you moron!" the blonde yelled, "Are you trying to get us killed?" She thwapped Shikamaru over the head. Not hard, but enough to make Gaara's head jar.

"How troublesome," he muttered, then spoke to his comrades, "Gaara is the guy we were chasing."

"What?" both of his teammates exclaimed in unison.

"If it's all the same to you three," Gaara spoke up, "I'd like to get down now."

Ino and Chouji didn't seem to be fond of the idea, but Shikamaru just looked at him for a moment before his chakra faded. The shadow slid back down the pole and returned to the Chuunin. When Gaara jumped down, he merely looked at each of the three in turn.

"This mission is over," Shikamaru said simply, "That guy said that we would just have to capture some random kid, not a ninja. You are way out of the mission profile, so the contract is voided."

Gaara hesitated a moment, then said, "I'm glad that we are not in opposition."

"Me too," the kunoichi nodded, then began to fidget uncomfortably when he looked at her.

"I recognize you, but I don't remember your name," he stated.

She blinked in confusion, as if she never would have thought he would care about something like her name. "Uh, Ya-Yamanaka Ino," she uttered.

Turning to the last of the group, the big guy answered before the question was asked, "Akimichi Chouji."

"Your teamwork was excellent," Gaara said, then was silent. The others seemed not only surprised at the compliment, but obviously expected him to say more. When he didn't, Shikamaru filled in the silence.

"Thanks, I suppose."

After another moment, there was the sound of an empty stomach as everyone looked at Chouji. "What? We did a lot of running!" he spoke unapologetically.

Ino and Shikamaru chortled at his words as Gaara watched them gently tease their friend. He found himself wanting intensely to feel that sort of camaraderie with someone. When he realized he had no one like that, he felt very much alone.

"Well if you're hungry too, Shikamaru," Chouji grumbled, "why don't we go get something to eat before we go tell the client to shove it?"

"All right, Chouji," Ino gave an exasperated smile, "We'll go get something to eat. But I pick where we go or you're paying for mine!"

The team leader seemed to be amused by his comrades as he told them, "All right you two. Asuma is going to kick my ass if you both eat till you're sick, so at least try not to clean out the restaurant." Turning to Gaara, he gave an unsure grin, "Well, we're going to tell that guy that the missions off, then we'll be on our way. I'm not sure why you're here, but I'll omit you from the report."

He nodded to the other ninja, "Thank you."

Shikamaru nodded back, "Well, I guess we'll probably meet again. See you later."

Gaara wasn't sure why, but his loneliness spiked painfully at that moment. He didn't know these people very well, but for some reason he didn't want them to leave. "Wait," he blurted out before thinking. They turned and looked at him as he searched for something to say next. A little unsure of himself, he said the best thing he could come up with, "My hotel is supposed to have good food. If you want, you can eat there."

They looked at him as if he had just started tap dancing. He suddenly felt very self conscious, and wished that he hadn't said anything. _Of course they don't want to go anywhere with me. I threatened to kill Shikamaru on more than one occasion, and I'm sure the others are well aware of my propensity toward wanton murder._

"Sure," came the unexpected response from Shikamaru, "I think it'd be good for Sand/Leaf relations."

Gaara saw the grin that the Chuunin was giving him, surprised that he had agreed. Still looking a little wary, Chouji spoke up, "If it's at your hotel, does that mean the food is already paid for?" Gaara nodded, bringing a pleased smile to the large boy's face, "What are we waiting for?"

They all looked at Ino, who still seemed a little unsure about Gaara. After glancing at her teammates, she sighed. "Thanks for inviting us," she said with a weak smile.

**

* * *

**

The entire trip to the hotel, Ino stayed on the far side of one of her teammates (or both, when the opportunity presented itself). Chouji didn't seem keen on the idea of getting too close to Gaara either, but at least he hid the fact from his face better than the girl.

Shikamaru, it seemed, was the only one who didn't seem worried on some level that Gaara was going to change his mind and kill them all. They were aware of what he had done during the Chuunin exams, but Shikamaru had seen it first hand, and had almost found himself another victim of Gaara's sand on at least two occasions. Still, he was the only one who didn't act afraid, as if he were just traveling with an ally. It was comforting to the Sand ninja, and it made the attitudes of the other two much easier to bear.

They didn't speak much, except to discuss the new alliance between their villages. Shikamaru surprised Gaara once by asking about his siblings. He could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile on the Chuunin's face when he mentioned how Temari was, but he decided it was probably his imagination.

When they arrived at the Hotel Daioh, Gaara simply continued to the front door. It took him a moment to realize that the other three had stopped at the curb. Ino seemed like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on her. Chouji stared at the place as if he didn't belong there. Even Shikamaru seemed at a loss as he looked at the massive luxury hotel and casino.

"Is there something wrong?" Gaara asked them.

"You really have a room here?" Chouji asked. When he nodded in response, the large ninja continued with a strange look on his face, "So, all the food is included in the price of the room? We can eat as much as we want?"

Gaara thought for a second, "I believe that's the case."

The sizeable son of the Akimichi clan suddenly looked as though he were ready for battle. "What are we waiting for, then?" he called, "Itaidakimasu!" As he tried to dash forward, his face turned red from lack of oxygen. He was being held in place by the scarf around his neck which was being held by a surprisingly scary looking Ino.

"What the hell are you doing?" she practically exploded, "We can't go in there with these clothes, this place is high class! If we went in there looking like this, they'd laugh at us before they threw us out on our butts!" She spoke as if it were a fate worse than death. "Oh, geez, I'd be so humiliated," she draped an arm over her eyes in despair.

Gaara looked to Shikamaru for an explanation for his comrades' behavior, but received only a shrug. "If Chouji doesn't get something to eat soon, he's going to be complaining the whole way back to Konoha. I suppose we could go up to the room and have food delivered up to us," he offered, looking at Gaara, "If you don't mind, that is."

The red haired shinobi nodded in response, "That's fine."

Chouji gave a cry of joy as he clenched his fists, "Yakiniku! Maybe even a big, juicy steak!" He held his stomach as his head lolled back. A bit of drool appeared at the corner of his mouth and he made an odd noise as he imagined the flavors he would soon experience.

Ino crept forward, glancing continuously at the hotel, "Are you sure they'll let us in looking like this?"

"They were quite polite to me after I paid for my room," Gaara explained to her, "They also found some clothes that were more appropriate for me to wear in this place. I can ask them if they would do the same for the three of you."

Her face instantly shifted to one of starry eyed happiness, "Would you?"

Shikamaru was rubbing his eyes, muttering, "Let's just go to the room before you two do anything else to trouble him."

Gaara had decided that this Yamanaka Ino was one of the strangest people he had ever known. In contrast to the walk to the hotel, Ino was making sure that she was the closest one to Gaara. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that she feared being kicked out of the hotel more than she was afraid of his murderous reputation. The fact that her change in attitude toward him seemed to stem from his offer of new clothing confused him greatly. Either she was much more clever and deceptive than he had given her credit for, or she had the most bizarre set of priorities that he could imagine.

The large one was much easier to figure out. He wanted to eat. That was it.

Gaara knew that there was a hidden strength within the plump shinobi, as he had heard what Chouji had accomplished during the mission to retrieve the Uchiha boy. He was determined, loyal, and apparently far more powerful than he had demonstrated during his preliminary match in the Chuunin exams, but all that could not mask what drove his everyday desires. He was hungry, and if someone wanted to provide a free meal, that person couldn't be that bad.

His contemplations about the three Leaf ninjas were abruptly knocked aside when he approached the double doors leading to his room and saw them cracked and ajar.

Rushing in, he found only an empty room. Two small chairs had been knocked over, but aside from that, there were no signs of anyone having been there. Walking to his bed, he could hear Chouji grunting at the signs of forced entry while Ino spoke to no one in particular, "What happened? Did they take something."

Gaara answered as he picked up a note scribbled onto a hotel stationary. "They took Kotori."

"Who's Kotori?" Shikamaru asked as Gaara handed him the note. "Debts have to be paid. What the hell does that mean?"

"The man that hired you leads a gang who cheat people out of their money," Gaara explained as he walked to his backpack of sand, "If they don't get their money, they make entire families slaves of the organization to pay off their debts."

"That's terrible," Ino gasped.

"Yeah," Chouji agreed, "but it's not that uncommon in cities like this one."

"He's right, things like this happen all the time," Shikamaru added, "So what does this have to do with you?"

"Kotori was nice to me," Gaara tried to find the proper words to describe his jumbled feelings, "She didn't look at me with fear or loathing the way everyone back in my village did. I wanted to repay her for her kindness. When she told me that her family had been in debt to those people, I could make her happy by making them leave her alone." He hefted his sand onto his back, "It seems my plans have backfired on me."

"What are you going to do?" Ino asked.

Gaara looked at her, a determined gleam in his eyes, "I'm going to take her back from them."

Chouji spoke up, "I thought you were trying to keep people from knowing that you're a ninja. How are you going to get her back by yourself without, uh, you know…with the sand?"

"Whether or not these fools know I am a shinobi is no longer relevant," his voice was hard as he thought of the ones who took Kotori. "As to how I will get her back," he looked at Shikamaru, "that is where you three come in."

The Chuunin seemed to expect Gaara's words, even if the other two had obviously not. "So you want to hire us for a mission?" he asked stoically.

"I will pay you for a B rank mission," Gaara stated, "Though I suspect it will not be that difficult. I can do this on my own, but I do not want to risk her life."

"Normally we would have to run a mission request through the Hokage," Shikamaru spoke in a very business like voice. "Then again, your team did save my team's ass against those Sound ninjas," a somewhat amused grin appeared on his lips, "It's troublesome, but I suppose we owe you one."

* * *

**A/N**

I always feel as if my work seems rushed. Is it just me?

Anyway, sorry for the delay in getting this out. My time has been split between this and my other Naruto fic. That's pretty much how things will be from now until one gets finished, but I'll try to keep a chapter coming out at least once a week for each.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Keep 'em coming!

See you next chapter!

Katamari Damacy


	5. The Devil Within

Special Note: This chapter is a little intense compared to the previous chapters. There is some blood and death, and may be a touch disturbing. Just wanted to let you know.

* * *

_Drifting Sand_

_Chapter Five_

_The Devil Within – Farewells and Departure_

The four of them stood in an alley in the South West part of the city. They had tried the direct approach in returning to the Boss' office, but they had found it empty, and none of his minions seemed to know where he had gone. So they found themselves combing the areas that they knew the Otoka Gento gang to work.

The sun had nearly set and the alleyway was sorely lacking in light. Only the faint glow of orange clouds and the electric glow of the lit signs in the street crept into the rat infested space. All four were standing, with one sitting in a chair made of sand.

Ino was trying her way of intelligence gathering, infiltrating the body of one of the thugs and walking amongst them. It was taking far too long for Gaara's taste, however, and he had snatched a potential intelligence source of his own.

The blond haired girl had left specific instructions to not let her body touch anything in the filthy alleyway. She warned that if she found a single smudge anywhere, she would be sure to make them pay when the trio returned to Konoha. Thus Chouji was obediently holding up Ino's limp body under the arms, her feet barely on the ground. Shikamaru was simply standing next to the Sand nin, watching with what passed for great interest from him.

"I'll only ask this once before things become uncomfortable for you," Gaara stated, "Where is the head of your gang?"

"How the hell should I know?" he asked, noticeably scared out of his wits. After all, a large mound of sand had just grabbed him off the street, he obviously didn't know what to think. The skinny guy with a comb over started to get extremely nervous when the sand from the chair began to reach out and grab his index finger, pulling it uncomfortably far backward. "I swear I don't know where he's at! I never even met the guy! Please don't hurt me, I just run numbers! I never hurt nobody! Aaahh!"

The crack seemed to echo off the walls of the alley louder than the middle aged gang member's screams did. Both Shikamaru and Chouji winced slightly at the noise, but Gaara didn't flinch. "I suggest you impress me with your knowledge before I decide your life to be completely worthless."

The man began rattling off how he rigged different games and how the money was moved around the city. He was in the middle of talking about methods of hiring new thugs when Gaara lost his patience. Without warning, another finger snapped. As he screamed, an arm of sand reached around from behind him and wrapped tight around his neck. As he struggled to breathe, another tendril came around and formed a very sharp looking spike, aimed at the man's chest.

"Let's not do anything unnecessary here," Shikamaru said as he put his hands up in a placating manner, "He's just some peon. He probably doesn't know anything we need, if he did he would have told us by now."

Chouji backed his friend up, "Shikamaru's right. Loosing our cool now wouldn't do us any good. We just need to be patient and let Ino get the information for us."

Gaara considered their words as he watched the man cry freely and soil his pants. As he made certain his sand stayed away from that particular area, he took a slow breath. They were right, though he didn't want to admit it. He was letting his emotions control his actions, something he had tried to avoid for some time. They made him cruel and worse. He realized that he had very much wanted to kill the man before him. He also realized that the thought of doing so did not repulse him.

_**See, killing is a part of who you are. You claim that you have turned over a new leaf, that you would no longer walk the path of a murderer. And yet here we are, on the brink. **_

_I didn't do it. I won't do it._

_**If they had said nothing, you wouldn't have thought twice about it. That man would be soaking the sand with his vitae.**_

_It doesn't matter. They stopped me._

_**You don't have to listen to them. You could kill all three of them.**_

_Shut up. I won't listen to you._

_**Oh but there's a fourth person here, isn't there? You've been feeling so lonely lately, and you are a growing boy. You could always use her to…**_

_Shut up!_

_**Oh come on! I'll bet you can't wait to see the look on her face when she comes back to her body, only to find that you're doing all sorts of perverted…**_

"_Shut up!"_

"What's wrong?" Gaara thought he heard Shikamaru's voice through the haze. He saw the man, still crying before him, and his confusion was dispelled. He turned and saw that Ino was standing on her own, though still slightly woozy from her jutsu. "Ino was just telling us what she found. Are you okay?"

As Gaara looked at the dazed girl several images flashed forward from the dark areas of his mind. When he realized that she had met his gaze with a questioning eye, he quickly turned away. "You know where he is?" he asked quietly. His odd behavior caused the three to glance at each other briefly before Ino replied.

"Yeah, I know where he is," she smiled, proud of herself "and I happened to learn that a girl named Kotori had been brought there an hour before he arrived."

The chair of sand suddenly enveloped the terrified gang member, wrapping around his body but leaving his head exposed. The Konoha shinobi all reacted to the sudden action with wide eyes.

A tendril of sand reached out and grabbed the lid of a trash can, which whipped forward and smashed the man across the head with a resounding clang. As the now unconscious man's head lolled around, the seemingly alive grains picked him up and slung him into the darkening sky. As his arms and legs spread around him while he spun slowly, his not so graceful arc carried him just high enough to land him on the third story roof of the seedy motel they were next to.

The 'disposal' of the numbers man had started just as Gaara began to speak, and ended while he was saying, "If we know where both are, then let's go."

The three shinobi all but gawked at the red haired boy as he began to walk toward the street. Realizing that they weren't following, he found them all looking up at the place their prisoner had flown to. "His injuries are far from life threatening."

They took the hint and began to move. Ino moved out in front, leading the group to their destination. Gaara found himself glancing toward her periodically, then feeling guilty about the images that his dark side had conjured about her. It was stupid for him to think things like that about her. The Yamanaka girl was pleasing to the eye, there was no doubt, but she was not the one he wanted to be with.

His thoughts flashed to Kotori. Gaara remembered when she first walked into his room, how he was thunderstruck by her appearance. Her blushing smile when he asked her what ungentlemanly meant. Her radiant green eyes as she motioned him to sit with her on the couch in his room.

Then he remembered how she had been forced to smile as she spoke of her debts, and the men that prevented her from ever leaving that hotel. It struck him just how different he felt when he remembered her cheerful look, and when he imagined her crestfallen. He actually felt glad when he recalled her smile. He wanted her to look at him warmly again.

With a renewed surge of anger at the men who took her away, and he again vowed to himself that he would not only get her back, but he would force them to stay away from her, with lethal force if needed. As he thought that, he became aware that some part of him hoped that lethal force would indeed be required.

"This is it," he heard Ino announce as they all came to a stop on a rooftop. Looking over the edge, he saw a run down looking building that might have been a hotel at one point. "They're in there."

Scowling in distaste, Shikamaru spit on the roof beside him before he spoke, "Geez, how troublesome."

"Why would they be in this dump?" Chouji asked, pulling out a piece of jerky and gnawing on it.

Shikamaru wrinkled his nose, "Can't you tell?" Gaara didn't know what he was saying, but fortunately for him Chouji didn't either. As the larger shinobi shook his head, the Chuunin sighed. "It's a whorehouse, and a cheap one by the looks of it. They brought her here because they're going to put her to work as a prostitute in this rat trap."

Gaara shook his head. _This can't be true. They can't sell her off like a piece of meat for some strange man's pleasure! I won't let them!_

**_That's it, let your blood boil! It's a silly reason to kill, but as long as you squeeze all their blood out…_**

_I'll crush their bones to dust. I'll break every one, a single bone at a time. If they have done anything to Kotori…_

**_No! For what they _want_ to do! They don't deserve to live after what they wanted to do!_**

_Yes, they all deserve to die. I'll make it rain with their blood. I will let them all feel the final pain of their bodies being crushed by my power._

The look on Gaara's face betrayed his murderous intent. Shikamaru, who had seen something very much like it directed at him before, became nervous. "Hey," he spoke with some uncertainty, "Are you okay? I think I've come up with a plan, but I want to run it by you first. It won't even require any killing!"

The last word grasped the red haired ninja's attention. As he looked at the person speaking to him, he began to realize that he had met this person before. As if a dark haze had been banished from his vision, Shikamaru's visage became clear. _What was I thinking? I almost let myself loose control!_ He did his best to make his face neutral as he listened to the Chuunin speak. He only heard bits and pieces of it.

_Why are we coming up with this elaborate plan? They could be doing horrible things to Kotori as we speak! _"That will take far too long," he stated, impatient to save her, "When we find her, we can follow your plan. Until then, we will do it my way."

"And what way is that?" Ino asked.

Gaara looked at her for a moment, the dark thoughts about her that had plagued him earlier banished as he thought of Kotori. "I will clear a path for us. You will ensure no one harms her."

"I thought you didn't want to be known as a ninja," Shikamaru said with a strange look on his face. Gaara considered the strange gaze coming from him, unable to determine what was behind it.

"It is of no consequence," Gaara finally replied, "I will not allow them to harm her."

Shikamaru seemed satisfied with the answer. "We're right behind you."

The four leapt forward. Striding up to the 'hotel', Gaara didn't even wait for the bouncer at the door to protest their presence. Within a second he was rolling to a stop, unconscious, in the middle of the filthy street.

Gaara made short work of the first floor, loudly knocking holes in the thin walls of each room to peer through. He might have been highly embarrassed at some of the compromising positions he saw during his search, but he was far too focused on his objective.

When he had filled the halls with screaming, half naked women and their screaming, half naked clients, Gaara's patience was beginning to buckle. He could hear the two other men yelling questions at people as they passed, trying to find the ones they were looking for.

As the people thinned, Gaara began to realize that with only two stories, the building couldn't have held many more people than he had just seen run past him. If Kotori and her captors were in the building, there was only one place that they could be.

"Below us," Gaara said, looking back at Chouji.

Nodding in understanding, he placed his hands in the proper shape, "Baika no Jutsu!" In an instant he had tripled in size, looking more round than he did before. As Gaara noted how much like a ball the Leaf nin looked, his head and limbs seemed to disappear within his clothing. "Nikudan Sensha!" he yelled as he used his chakra to spin his body at incredible speeds. Instead of tearing forward, however, he began to rip away pieces of the floor. Ino and Shikamaru sidestepped into a nearby doorway to keep from being hit by the bits of debris being slung out of the spin like a wood chipper.

Suddenly Chouji broke through, disappearing into a great hole in the floor with a resounding crash. Not missing a moment, the remaining three shinobi jumped through the opening into the basement below. Gaara quickly glanced around as he landed next to Chouji, who was back to normal size and swaying slightly from dizziness while he slowly stood.

The room itself was dank and smelled of sweat and other unpleasant odors he couldn't identify. There were several devices that Gaara assumed were meant for torture. Shelves filled with dusty bottles and filth covered pans of various sizes, ropes and leather straps, and many things that the young ninja couldn't imagine a use for.

The Boss was laying nearby, apparently having leaped out of the way just before the human cannonball had crushed him. Several other men and two women were scattered around the room looking more angry than frightened. Out of everything in the dank basement, only one thing held his eye.

Kotori was hanging from several pulleys on the ceiling, ropes holding her wrists together and running through the wheels above and back to tie to each of her ankles. What little was left of her clothes were in tatters and there were red welts all over her. Something was tied around her head, acting as a gag. Her green eyes, filled with tears that were falling down her wet cheeks, were red and irritated, while one had a dark bruise developing under it. Eyes widening, he found his voice almost refusing to give sound to his thoughts, "Kotori?"

He heard her try to scream, but it turned into choked sobs when it failed. "Quiet bitch!" one of the other women shrieked as she snapped a piece of frayed bamboo across her back. Kotori's pathetic cries of pain were threatening to overwhelm Gaara.

"I see you turned my employees against me," the Boss said, looking at the Konoha shinobi that had followed him down. He was certainly not nearly as confident as he was before, though he tried hard to remain in control of the situation. "I was wondering what was causing all the commotion upstairs. You can be sure that the whole world will know that Konoha betrayed its contract with me. Also, tell your superiors to expect a bill from me demanding compensation for the unwarranted destruction of my property!"

"Unwarranted?" Ino snarled at the man, "You stand there with her in that…that…" Her anger began to overpower her ability to convey coherent thoughts, something Gaara was not unfamiliar with. Shikamaru noticed her waning rationale and quickly took over.

"Your contract with us was a fraud," his voice calm compared to the others, "We have a new contract now. I suggest you give the girl to us before things turn ugly."

"And trust us," Chouji added from behind the others, finally in full control of his balance again, "You don't want things to turn ugly." He was giving a nervous look at Gaara as he warned them.

For his part, the Sand nin was dangerously close to leveling the entire block. The Boss' words were lost on him as his cold eyes were focused squarely on the middle-aged woman who held the frayed length of bamboo, "You will not harm her again."

She huffed a laugh at the red haired kid. She didn't know how he had gotten down there, but she obviously thought that he had no idea what he had stepped in. "Listen here runt, this isn't a place for youngsters like you to be playing. This is where adult come to play, and this girl," she slapped her prisoner in the face, drawing another muffled cry, "needs to be broken so she can service the adults properly."

"If you value your life," the Sand nin growled, tired of listening, "you will run as fast as you can, and hope I never catch you."

The workers all laughed at the boy. The ninjas they might worry about, but this little punk was nothing compared to the five of them. Plus, the Boss was there, and they wouldn't dare do anything in front of him. His money could buy the whole city if he wanted. Even these teens would realize that he could make their lives miserable.

"What are you going to do kid, take us all on?" one of the men laughed, "We've all taken a turn beating her."

"Yeah, it's too bad they interrupted us," another man said, "I suppose we'll have to wait to really break her in, right?" The laughs of the men echoed through Gaara's mind, their voices igniting and intensifying the inferno of anger that were flickering across his consciousness. He felt as if he could almost see the tongues of flame in the periphery of his sight.

_**They deserve it…**_

With a twisted grin appearing on his face, he crossed his arms over his chest. In a voice even deeper and intense than normal, his words were dripping with his intent, "So, all of you have hurt Kotori, is that right?"

The Konoha shinobi were startled at the powerful hatred that emanated from their ally, and each felt a strong urge to run from the coming storm. At the same time, however, they dared not move, fearful that they might draw attention to themselves.

Even the Boss was perceptive enough to see that something was far from right with the boy who stood ten feet from him. He felt a nervous fear that he hadn't felt for many years. Without understanding the intense desire that filled the room, he instinctually doubted his ability to leave the room alive. He began to creep backward almost imperceptibly, moving as fast as he dared to escape the feeling of dread he was filled with.

The man's subordinates, however, seemed less intimidated. The woman who had previously been silent let her spite be heard. "Don't try to intimidate us with your pathetic glare, you little punk! Yeah, we all hurt her, so what are you gonna do about it?"

The smile on the Sand ninja's face widened to the point that his eyes began to narrow. A few grains began to float into the air from over his shoulder, increasing to several writhing tendrils of sand as he made his reply, "I'm going to cover the walls with you."

Their expressions had turned from amused or hateful to something closer to confusion and fear as they saw the arms of sand curling around the red haired boy like the tentacles of an octopus. Suddenly noticing the reaction their employer was having, the first woman and one of the men began to act more appropriately humble.

"Wait a minute, we were just doing our jobs!" The man seemed ready to bolt as he felt more and more of the hatred that filled the room.

Y-yeah," the middle aged woman stammered, "I-I don't enjoy it or a-anything!"

In the span of a heartbeat, a limb of sand crashed into the wall. The sudden movement and noise startled nearly everyone, involuntarily drawing their eyes to the point of impact.

As the dust settled, the cracks extended out like a spiderweb from the huge glob of sand that built up before the center of the collision. The only visible parts of the middle aged woman were her right hand, which barely extended out from under the heavy blow, and the copious amount of blood that had spattered out across the buckled wall.

"You need a much more impressive excuse than that," Gaara almost sang, the darkness seeming to permeate the basement.

The other man, who was already frightened, had found his excuse to run. Much to his horror, he couldn't. Looking down, he found sand around his foot and slowly climbing up his body. His breathing sped up, and the pitch of his voice was considerably higher as he begged Gaara to let him go. He called for his mother just as the sand engulfed his face.

"Sabaku Soso!" The mound that had engulfed the man moved inward at the will of its master, crushing the gang member in an instant. He reveled in the expressions of fear he saw in the remaining people. It had been too long since he felt that good, and he wanted more. There wasn't enough blood. Looking at the remaining woman, her terror evident, he laughed evilly, "I think I told you that I would cover the walls with you."

She fell to the floor as she frantically tried to run. Her horrified mind could barely allow her to blubber incoherently and flail her arms and legs as she tried to crawl away. As the sand coiled around her neck, she let out a pitiful cry of despair. As he brought her closer, he looked into her tear filled eyes. "Of course, I don't think you would be enough for walls this big, so I'll have to use your coworkers, too."

The other two men looked at each other and ran for the stairs. They were both yanked into the air as an arm of sand grabbed their legs. Almost shaking in anticipation, Gaara's evil laugh filled the basement. A moment later, the three gang members were being violently whipped into the walls and ceiling. The terrified screams of the Otoka Gento members quickly vanished.

"Stop," came a shaky yell, "Stop right now, or else!"

The three bodies were suddenly hanging in place, still as could be. Gaara's smile vanished in the blink of an eye as he turned toward the Boss. While the sand master had toyed with his prey, the man had taken what he saw as his best chance to survive. In his irrational desire to shield himself, he had cut the ropes that suspended Kotori and now held her in front of himself, a knife to her throat.

_**Kill him! He deserves it more than anyone! He begs for death!**_

_He has Kotori. Even he would be able to kill her before I could do anything._

_**It doesn't really matter, she will die eventually anyway. You always seem to cause death to the ones you care about.**_

_No, I won't let that happen._

_**Yashamaru died because of you. Your mother. She will be no different.**_

_I can't allow that. I will not allow someone precious to me to be hurt again!_

The Boss saw the wavering emotions in Gaara's eyes. He knew he had made the right choice. "Here's the deal, you let me go and leave me and my business alone. I'll give her to you and forget the debt she owes me." He looked at Gaara, waiting for him to accept the terms. The Boss felt his frustration and fear get the better of him when no response came. "Well? What's your answer? You know that your little sand trick can't get me before I slit her throat, so either you agree and take her, or she dies right here in front of you."

"You are correct," Gaara was forced to admit after a moment, "I cannot get you before you kill her. It would seem that you have the upper hand. However, there is something I want to ask you before I give my answer."

"What's that?" he replied, patience growing thin.

"How can you harm Kotori when you cannot move of your own accord?"

The Boss felt cold. What could the boy have meant by that? He tried to shake his hostage in defiance of the foolish question, but could not. His fear threatened to overwhelm him as he felt his arms begin to raise, but not from his will. It was then that he noticed one of the Konoha ninjas, the one in the vest, was raising his arms in exactly the same fashion.

In a flash, the blond haired kunoichi appeared and caught Kotori as she fell from his grasp. He watched as the female shinobi pulled away with the only thing keeping him alive. Eyes widening, his eyes rolled back to the red haired boy who, to his horror, was smiling again.

The tendrils of sand began to wrap around his limbs as Shikamaru released his Kagemane. The Boss felt utter hopelessness set in as his body rose into the air under the ice cold, murderous eyes of Gaara. Having no other recourse, he began to plead, "I'll let her go! I promise I'll never cause her or anyone she knows trouble again! Please! I'll give you anything you want! I can get you more than a billion ryo by sunrise, anything you want I'll get you! Please let me live!"

"I think not," Gaara intoned, "I'm afraid your fate consists of a painful death. You will feel the agony of having your limbs ripped from your body."

The Boss struggled in vain as he felt the pressure increase on his left arm. The pain was excruciating as the bones began to fracture and break. His cry of anguish was drowned out by another voice, however. "Gaara!"

All expression left his face as he turned toward Kotori. She was shaking in Ino's arms as she looked at him. "Please don't, I can't…don't…" her words, uneasy to begin with, completely failed her as she sobbed into the younger girl's shoulder.

Without even realizing it, Gaara released the Boss from his hold. The sand sat stationary, softening its grip just enough for the man to fall awkwardly to the ground. He scrambled as quickly as he could out of the room.

Glancing at the thud only for a moment, the young shinobi turned his attention back to the girl he so wanted to make happy. He began to take a few slow, shaky steps toward her. "But, he hurt you," Gaara said uncertainly, "I wanted him to hurt more." His voice strained in worry, his desperate hope for her approval painfully obvious in his words. "I just wanted to make you happy."

"Stay away from me, you monster!" Her entire body was shaking as she screamed at him, quickly breaking down into terrified sobs again. All Ino could do was cradle the frightened young woman as she curled against the ninja, her stream of tears already soaking through her purple shirt.

The moment she had yelled at him, all the sand in the room immediately fell to the floor. The look of fear on her face made his insides feel like they were being impaled by icy spears. He grasped at his chest as his eyes squeezed shut. It felt as if he was being pressed to death by his own sand, unable to breathe or feel anything else.

Without thinking, he ran. He didn't hear the voices of the two male Konoha shinobi calling after him, all he heard were her cries. Gaara flung himself from rooftop to rooftop, trying to escape the claustrophobia he was experiencing.

He had no idea how long he had been going, or where he was when he missed a step and sprawled out across the roof of some building. The half moon shone down on him as he pushed himself up from the cushion of sand that automatically protected him. His breathing was harried and he still couldn't form a coherent thought.

"_Stay away from me, you monster!"_

His strength gave way as he fell back to the rough roof beneath him, his legs curled up till they touched his arms, which were wrapped protectively around his chest.

An image of his childhood came to him, and he saw himself standing with the only person who had ever treated him kindly. "Sometimes injuries of the heart never heal," Yashamaru had told him.

Another memory, this time of Gaara knocking on a door, with a package in his hands. He had gone to buy the ointment for the girl he had accidentally injured. When he offered it to her, she became angry and yelled at him, "Go away, monster!"

"_Stay away from me, you monster!"_

_I want to die! I hate this feeling!_

He could see her bruised face, and the intense fear in her emerald eyes as she called him monster. He had seen it so many times before. The eyes of the people of Hidden Sand Village looked at him that way all the time when he was young. It was the only way he remembered anyone from his hometown looking at him.

Gaara opened his eyes and realized that he had been crying. His throat felt slightly raw from his anguished sobs and his face felt as though a great pressure was pushing out from within his sinuses. Sitting up, he crossed his arms over his knees as he looked up at the sky, hoping to find comfort.

_She's as terrified of me as anyone in the village ever was. Kotori hates me because she thinks I'm a monster. Why? Why did it turn out this way? I wanted to help her! I wanted to make her life better. I wanted to see her smile at me._

His heart seemed to twist in his chest as he thought that. Kotori hated him, and she would never smile at him again. It was the same feeling he had when Yashamaru told Gaara that he had never been loved by anyone, and that even he hated the red haired misfit.

Gaara set his head down on his arms and cried.

**

* * *

**

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes as he jumped across the rooftops. He had only slept a little when they had taken Kotori back to the Hotel Daioh. Some deskman there was taking care of her with Ino's help. When they realized that Gaara was still gone, he and Chouji split up and went out looking for him. He was their employer, after all.

Chouji had given him a food pill that was designed, in part, to keep the consumer awake for an extended period of time. It was a mixed blessing, in his opinion. Shikamaru didn't feel sleepy, but his body was telling him that it was time to sit down for a while. Rubbing his eyes again in irritation, he kept looking.

It was mid morning before Lady Luck smiled on him. Jumping down from a water tower, he landed on a three story building. The roof was expansive and mostly empty save for one thing. In the dead center sat a red haired shinobi, surrounded by sand, looking up at the sky.

As Shikamaru walked slowly over to the boy, he knew that he had been noticed before he even landed on the building. Deciding that there wasn't much need for talk, he said only what he needed to, "Mind if I sit?"

Gaara didn't respond, or even give an indication that he knew the Chuunin was there. He took that as a 'go ahead' and sat down on the roof next to him, crossing his legs and leaning back on his hands.

The two sat in silence for some time. Shikamaru's body was thanking him for the rest while his mind lazily watched the clouds drift by. He knew, though, that eventually he was going to have to say something. Shaking the thought from his head, he figured that there would be plenty of time for that. He just wanted to be lazy for a few more minutes.

"She's afraid of me," Gaara suddenly spoke, "She hates me because she thinks I'm a monster."

Shikamaru was thrown for a moment, not sure what to make of the fact that Gaara of the Sand was initiating a conversation with him. Looking at the guy next to him, he shrugged a little and gave his reply. "Well, I don't know that I'd go that far. Still you did kill five people right in front of her." That didn't seem to help, as Gaara's face seemed to fall a little. Thinking to himself a moment, he tried to come up with something to make the guy feel a little better.

"I just wanted her to be happy," he said, keeping his voice supremely neutral, though his face showed just how badly he felt.

Scratching his head, Shikamaru tried to give a good answer. "Listen, women, and I mean all women, are troublesome," he spoke as if he were going on about a cup of bad coffee, "I know I use that word a lot, but women personify it. They get emotional all the time and say stuff that they don't really mean, and they expect you to figure out that they meant something else."

"She called me a monster," Gaara retorted, "When Kotori looked at me, she had fear in her eyes. She meant what she said."

"Think about what she had just gone through," he told the other ninja, "She wasn't being rational. I don't know if she meant it or not, but if she did, it will only matter if you let it. People can change who they are if they try." Shikamaru sighed, looking back at the clouds when the other boy still didn't seem convinced. "So you've got an anger problem. Everyone has issues, but we don't just sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. We just do the best that we can. It's tough sometimes, but it's the only thing you can do."

Gaara was silent for a moment, then asked, "What problem do you struggle with?"

Shikamaru grinned as he lay down on his back, hands cushioning his head, "I'm lazy and a coward, and I don't like to do much of anything besides watching the clouds."

To Shikamaru's surprise, he heard a sober, quiet laugh from the other shinobi. He watched as Gaara lay back on the roof, looking solemnly up at the white streaked sky. "I don't want to go back yet. I want to see what there is to like about watching clouds."

Shikamaru laughed, "What isn't there to like?"

**

* * *

**

It was mid-afternoon when Shikamaru and Gaara returned to the large hotel. The red haired ninja observed the bustling of people getting ready for a night on the town as they walked in. He knew that no one else would act differently just because of the pains or fears of a few, but he still thought it strange that so many people could laugh when he felt so hollow.

"I'm going to go find my teammates," the Chuunin told him, "I'll meet you back here in fifteen minutes."

Gaara nodded as the other shinobi diverged from him. Going up to his room, he noted that the cracked doors had already been replaced. After entering, he stood for a moment, looking around.

Catching his eye, he walked to the bed. Laid out neatly was a set of black clothes. The coat was long, but seemed as though it would fit relatively snug to his torso. It had a line of green that followed the seam in front all the way up around the top of the high collar.

They were the clothes he had asked Kotori to get for him. He had intended to spend at least some of his time in the hotel, taking in the experiences it offered. That would not happen now. He had all the experiences he could stand in that city. He turned from the bed and moved into the bathroom.

After he had washed his face several times, he took one last look at the room before he closed the doors behind him and returned to the lobby. He was greeted by the Konoha shinobi, Nikkuro and some of his staff, and Kotori.

Gaara found that he was unable to meet her emerald green eyes. He did notice that she looked better, and that she was dressed a simple and light kimono, probably so as to not aggravate her wounds.

Apparently noticing that Gaara was not going to speak anytime soon, Nikkuro spoke up. "Your friends here told us that you would be checking out early. We don't normally give refunds for something like this, but since you saved Kotori from those men, I think the least we can do is make an exception to that rule."

"It's my fault she was taken," he replied flatly, "I do not want compensation."

"Come now, Young Master," Nikkuro prodded gently, "You were trying to do something good for her. Just because things didn't go according to plan…"

"According to plan?" Gaara asked, "I almost destroyed her life! Because of me, someone important was hurt badly! Someone like me doesn't deserve a reward for anything."

Everyone was silent, Nikkuro was at a loss for something to say, and even the Konoha trio looked a little uncomfortable. Without meaning to, he looked over at the young woman he had been speaking of. She was looking at him with a pained expression, seeming as though she was searching for something to say.

Gaara didn't wait for her words, however. "I am leaving," he said simply as he walked past them. No one said a word, though Shikamaru's team slowly followed him toward the main doors.

That was when Gaara saw him. A young boy, about twelve or thirteen, was walking into the hotel. He had a messy mop of black hair and clothes that were even less suitable for the high class establishment than Gaara's. He looked familiar, but the Sand nin couldn't quite place it. When their eyes met, the boy suddenly pointed at him, "You! You're the one who stole my book!"

Gaara had time to blink before he heard Kotori's voice call from behind him, "Kotaro!"

The boy looked a little surprised, "Onee-san?"

"Onee-san?" Chouji asked as the trio looked at each other questioningly. Shikamaru shrugged as he turned back to the unfolding scene, while Ino looked as if she wanted to pose more queries.

"Where have you been? You were gone for days," she continued until she saw the confused looks on the shinobi. She forced a smile as she explained, "Kotaro is my little brother. He's been living here with me, but he's been developing some bad habits lately." She shot the boy a look, causing him to lower his head slightly.

Gaara, who had been rustling around in his pockets, found what he was looking for. "This is yours, right? You can have it back."

The boy went red as Gaara held the book out in front of him for everyone to see. Chouji and Shikamaru began to snicker while Ino didn't seem to believe her eyes. Nikkuro and his three bellhops were straining hard to keep from laughing out loud at the sight.

"Th-that's not mine!" Kotaro yelled. He was holding his hands up as if to shield himself from the little orange book. "What are you doing, trying to give me such a thing?"

"Kotaro," his sister said slowly, "What's going on here?"

Gaara beat the other boy to the punch. "I took this from your brother when I arrived in town. I had intended to give it back, but I haven't had a chance."

"Lies!" Kotaro cried out, looking nervous under his elder sisters glare, "I would never have something like that! I know how you feel about those things!"

Gaara heard a noise behind him. Turning to look over his shoulder, he saw Shikamaru and Chouji leaning on each other for support as they laughed out loud. Ino quickly thwapped both on the head as she blushed, "Stop acting like idiots! It's embarrassing!"

To say that Gaara was confused would have been fairly accurate, if not a slight understatement. He looked blankly from the Konoha shinobi, to Nikkuro and his men as they tried to hide their amusement, to Kotaro as he looked fearful of what his sister was about to do.

Kotori, in the meantime, had made her way over to her brother. She stared at him as he searched for something to say. Finally coming up with something, he murmured out uncertainly, "I hope you're feeling alright. I didn't know you fell down the stairs."

Her back eye twitched at his words. It seemed as if time stood still for a moment before, faster than the shinobi could see, she had grabbed her brother by the ear. "I'll show you falling down the stairs! I ought to take you up to the roof and throw you off!"

Gaara took an involuntary step back from the siblings as they struggled. She had him in a headlock as his arms flailed about. "I'm sorry, Onee-san! You look really good!"

It was an odd scene, and one that made him think for a moment. Is this the way a big sister was supposed to act? He found it impossible to imagine Temari doing such a thing to him. As Kotaro's face turned blue and his soul seemed ready to escape through his mouth, Gaara wondered if he really wanted Temari to act like a normal sister.

Finally releasing him, she growled at the gasping boy, "Go get cleaned up, you look like you just crawled out of the dumpster. And don't try to get any sympathy from Nikkuro either!" Kotaro slinked away like a scolded dog. Gaara watched as he went straight to Nikkuro when she turned away from him. The older man ruffled the boy's black hair playfully as he smiled at the boy, who now wore a mischievous smile.

It only took a few seconds for Gaara to realize that Kotori was looking at him, and she didn't seem pleased. "You lied to me," she spoke just above a whisper. He began to look away as her hand darted forward. Startled by her sudden move, his eyes quickly returned to find the young woman smiling at the orange book she now held in her hands. "You told me you didn't know what ungentlemanly meant."

He wasn't sure what she was talking about, but couldn't bring himself to ask. He was far too busy trying to figure out why she was smiling.

"I didn't figure you the type to read something like this," she continued, handing the book back to him, "You seemed so shy when we met."

"I haven't read it," he managed to reply.

Her smile faded as she looked at nothing in particular to her right. "I couldn't face you," she explained, "until just now, when I saw Kotaro. That was when I realized that what you did would free him, too. He's everything I have left, and you gave him a chance at a normal life." He considered explaining to her that he had actually forgotten to mention her brother when Gaara had made his demands to the Boss. After thinking about it for a moment, he discarded the idea, deciding it would be better not to challenge her facts on the subject.

"I'm not really sure what to think of you, Gaara. You had no right to do what you did. I was happy before. Not that happy, but it was good enough for me. You almost destroyed what little I had in life."

Gaara dropped his gaze at the marble floor of the lobby. "I know. I didn't mean for you to be hurt at all."

"What you did to those people in the basement," she went on, "I had never seen someone die before. I was so scared of what those people were doing, but I was more scared by the look in your eyes. I thought that you would kill me, too."

He felt hurt as he listened to her words. "I would never have done anything to hurt you," he said quietly.

"I know, Gaara," she replied, causing him to look up in surprise. "Your eyes aren't the same as what I saw when you killed those people. I don't know who those eyes belong to, but they aren't you." He wasn't sure what to say, or what to do. He only blinked at her as she continued, "I guess what I'm trying to say is sorry for calling you a monster. I'm still afraid of those eyes, Gaara. I hope that you can find a way to leave them behind you."

_Does this mean she doesn't hate me? Why can't she be more clear?_

Suddenly feeling warm, Gaara looked at the ground once more as he asked in a whisper, "Can…can I come back and see you again some day?" He felt as if everyone would point and laugh at him at any moment. Even worse, he feared that Kotori would do the same.

"Maybe," she said, just as softly, "Maybe when I'm not afraid anymore, and you're a little more grown up." He looked to see a warm smile on her face, and it felt as if something had jumped within his ribcage. "Until then, be good."

As she turned to walk away, Gaara suddenly called out, "Wait! I have something for you!" She turned back to him, surprised as he pulled out the envelope that Ryoto had given him for protecting his mother. "Please take this."

"You don't have to give me anything, Gaara," she blushed a little as she put her hands up.

"Please," he implored, holding it out to her, "I want to give you something to help you and your brother."

Reaching out and taking it, she gave him a small smile, "Thank you, for everything."

Gaara felt much better than he had when he entered the lobby. Not wanting to do anything to ruin it, he gave a quick nod to Nikkuro and left. The late afternoon sun felt pleasantly warm on his face as he stepped outside, the Konoha nin following behind him.

"Are you sure you just wanted to give her that?" Shikamaru asked, causing Gaara to look at him in confusion.

Chouji nodded, "Yeah, I mean that was money, wasn't it?"

"Probably," Gaara nodded, unsure where they were going. "I never opened it."

"Well, that thing was pretty thick." Chouji continued, "It must have been a lot of cash. You really want to just give it to her like that?"

"You guys stop pestering him!" Ino snapped at them angrily, causing the two boys to flinch. In the time it took for her to turn to look at Gaara, however, her face had become quite warm, "I think it was sweet of you to give that to her." Her face became frightening again as she looked back at her teammates, "You two ought to learn something from him!"

Unnoticed by the quarreling Konoha shinobi, a smile crept onto Gaara's lips as he looked up at the clouds above. _It was worth it to see her smile at me again._

He barely noticed when Ino began to give Chouji karate chops to the back of the head, or when Shikamaru ran behind the Sand ninja to escape her wrath.

**

* * *

**

"That was rather nice of him," Nikkuro gave her a fatherly smile as she watched the four ninjas leave the hotel.

Kotori grinned back at him, "It think if just a few things in his past were different, he would have been a great guy."

Nikkuro laughed a little, "Well, it seems like he may be trying to make up for things that he lost out on. Maybe in a year or two, he really will be a great guy. Maybe even _the _great guy, eh?" He gave her a playful nudge with his elbow as she let out a small yelp, giving him a playful slap.

"C'mon, Nikkuro," Kotaro groaned, "He's my age! It'd be weird for someone as old as Onee-san to…uh, I mean for someone as beautiful as Onee-san to-ack!" He began to turn blue again as she ensnared him in another headlock.

"So you think I'm old, huh Kotaro?" she growled at him, an evil smile on her face as she contemplated what punishment would suit him.

Nikkuro chuckled as the siblings fought, even though it was always a one sided fight like the one he was watching. A little worried that Kotaro might pass out from asphyxiation, he decided a little distraction was in order, "Why don't you open it, Kotori? Let's see what he gave you."

Her diabolical thoughts disrupted, she released her little brother and looked curiously at the slightly crinkled envelope. She hadn't noticed how thick it was until then, and she too began to wonder just what was inside. Opening it, she peered inside at the bills within.

Nikkuro and Kotaro began to worry a little when she didn't move for more than ten seconds. "Onee-san," her brother spoke as he gently shook her arm, "Are you okay?" He noticed her eyes were wider than he had ever seen them in his life. Nikkuro, seeing that she was completely out of it, gently pried the envelope open enough for him to see over her shoulder.

"Are these all ten thousand ryo bills?" he asked, his voice almost failing him. When Kotori nodded, her breath began to increase on a pace that threatened hyper-ventilation. Kotaro, not believing his ears, snatched the envelope out of his sister's hands and began to examine it himself.

"There's five hundred thousand ryo here!" he started to laugh, "Holy shit, we're rich!"

"Kotaro!" his sister was instantly brought out of her reverie by his swearing, "I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again!" Her voice held the threat of horrible things to come, and quickly dampened the joy of the youngster, but not totally.

"I'm sorry, Onee-san," he smiled at her, "It's just I can't understand why he would have just given us this much money!" He seemed to think for a moment, then snapped his fingers, "I must be to pay for the book! But still, it was a great read, but he could have bought a copy for two. Why would he want mine so bad?"

When he looked back, he saw Nikkuro shaking his head with his hand over his eyes. Before he even saw the fire in his sister's green eyes, Kotaro feared for his life.

"I thought you said the book wasn't yours, dear Kotaro."

**

* * *

**

In a dark office across the city, a man refilled his glass with a harsh, dark whiskey. The pain in his left arm was still very much present, even after he had spent all day at the hospital. They had told him that too many of the bones had been crushed, and that he would never be able to use his left hand properly again.

That damned red haired bastard, he had done it. The boy could have killed him, but hadn't. He had been saved, ironically enough, by the girl that had brought the boy down on him in the first place. She had no reason to save him, but she had anyway. He had decided that her act had more than cleared her debt to him, and told his men to leave her and her brother alone. There was some honor among thieves, it seemed.

However, the demon boy would not get away so easily. Yes, he had to be a demon. His powers could have been that of a talented ninja, but the pure evil that had emanated from him could only have been the aura of a devil. And that devil had tried to kill him.

The door opened after a weak knock, and a weasel looking man in his fifties poked his head in uneasily. "You wanted to see me, Boss?"

"Close the door," he said before downing his glass with a grimace. When he heard the click of the latch, he continued, "The red haired boy. Hire more ninjas, not from Konoha this time. Get them from Rain or Sound or something. I want him dead."

"But sir," the underling replied, "From what you described, it would take some very powerful ninjas to kill this boy. It'll be very expensive."

"I don't care," the Boss said as he felt another shooting pain through his left arm, "Spend whatever you have to. Tell them he's even more powerful than what I described. Money isn't the concern in this matter, his head on a plate on this desk is what matters." He poked his desk with his right index finger to accentuate his point before refilling his glass.

"Sir," the older man said, "I'll make the necessary inquiries. We'll hire the most talented men that we can find and make sure that this boy gets what he deserves." With a bow, the man moved to the door and backed out of the room.

The middle aged man decided to sip at his whiskey, as he was beginning to feel the numbing effects of the alcohol. It felt good to take the first steps toward his revenge, but he hardly felt like smiling. He would spend whatever it took to avenge his hand, and to punish the brat for making him look like a fool. If it took every ryo he had, the Boss of the Otoka Gento gang would have his vengeance.

The boy had tried to kill him. An eye for an eye, but where the boy had failed, he would succeed. His honor demanded it.

* * *

**A/N**

My longest chapter yet. Sorry it took so long, work kept getting in my way.

While I (again) feel that the chapter could have been better, I kind of like how the story progressed. I couldn't help but put the little part in where Shikamaru and Gaara watched the clouds together. (Future brother-in-laws bonding! HAHA!)

I'm not sure how well I developed Gaara's feelings for Kotori during these three chapters. The whole point of this little 'arc' was to tell a story about what might very well be Gaara's first crush. I hope it came out all right.

I hadn't originally intended for the fight scene to be quite as, er, vicious as that, but it seemed to fit for me. Gaara has been keeping his killing urges under control until now, but when his emotions were thrown into extreme disarray (because of Kotori), his control was gone and he lost himself to the monster within. I personally wanted to keep seeing the Gaara we've seen so far in this story, but it just didn't seem right to me. Hopefully all this made sense before you got to the author's notes, cause if it didn't, I screwed up.

Anyway, thanks to all my readers, and doubly to my reviewers. I'm glad that everyone seems to be enjoying this so far. I'm going to put out a chapter of my other story, then we'll see what I feel like after that. Check my profile page for the latest info.

Katamari Damacy


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